Aug 10, 2017 4 min read

As the Youngstown, Ohio, team crowded back into the dugout after the second inning of the Pony League Host Area Tournament – the latter of two elimination games Monday – things looked grim.

Youngstown trailed Johnstown, 8-4, and the season was again on the brink.

A last gasp effort in the final five innings was what Youngstown needed to make its first appearance at the Pony League World Series since 2011.

The players from Youngstown had Johnstown exactly where they wanted, clawing back to win 13-10.

To even make it to the Monday afternoon doubleheader for the right to be the last team to earn a spot in the 10-team field, Youngstown was facing the same scenario just one week ago and against the same team.

After losing the opening game 15-0 to Johnstown in a preliminary regional tournament – where the top two teams advanced – Youngstown battled through the losers bracket only to meet up with that familiar opponent.

After winning the first game, 3-2, the group from Ohio trailed 5-0 before scoring 15 straight runs.

“We just kept our cool and pulled it out,” said coach Randy Dominguez of the Host Tournament rally. “Any time you can be a representative for your community, it’s always special.”

When Youngstown opens play at 8 p.m., tonight against Hagerstown, Md., at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park, the goal will be to achieve something no team from Ohio ever has: win a Pony League World Series title.

And as with previous tournaments, Youngstown doesn’t care how it gets to its ultimate goal.

“The way we look at it is that if we lose, it gives us more games to play,” Dominguez said. “If we end up down in the losers’ bracket, it’s not anything that’s going to scare us. With the competition we are going to be facing it’s far from ideal, but we won’t look at it as a negative thing. The experience is going to trump the wins and losses.”

To advance into the later stages of the tournament next week, Youngstown will depend on multiple pitchers and strong defense.

“There are six to seven kids that can pitch and we feel comfortable throwing them in any situation,” Dominguez said. “The biggest thing is our defense really helps our pitching. We’ve had very solid play behind our pitchers and have rarely made errors.”

Youngstown will lean on the pitching of Jacob Gehring, Brandon Mikos, Austin Vogt and Trey Pancake.

When the players make the two-hour drive to Washington, it will be with the feeling that they not only belong but can compete.

“When the kids were younger, we started talking about short- and long-term goals,” Dominguez said. “We used to have a group for a span of four or five years went to the Little League World Series in Williamsport and have just enjoyed that atmosphere. It’s humbling and surreal but the atmosphere in our dugout is that we have worked hard for years to get to this point. We’re trying not to be in awe with the situation of playing on a national stage and competing against teams from all over the world.”

World series activities, which began last night with a FanFest at Dicks Sporting Goods in Strabane Square, will continue with the Home Run Derby and Fastest Runner competition at 11 a.m. at Pony Field.

The opening game pairs Mexico Zone champion Guasave, Sinaloa, against Caribbean Zone winner Levittown, Puerto Rico at 5:30 p.m. That game will be followed by the opening ceremonies then the 8 p.m. game.

“We have good baseball in Ohio,” Dominguez said. “On the national stage, we get overlooked a little bit. There are a lot of kids who come out of the state that make it far in baseball. For us to be one of the teams to showcase, that means a lot.”

Three games are scheduled for Saturday, starting with South Zone champion Brownsville, Texas, taking on North Zone champion Bay, County, Mich., at noon. Washington County will play its opening game at 2:30 p.m. against European Zone winner The Netherlands. The final game in the tripleheader will be Asia-Pacific Zone champion Seoul, Korea, versus the Guasave-Levittown winner.