Bronx outlasts Washington County, 15-13, in wild extra-inning game
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
The Bronx’s Miguel Bodre beats the tag from Washington County’s Conn Steele at second base during Saturday’s Pony League World Series at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Washington County’s Austyn Winkleblech throws against the Bronx Saturday afternoon. Winkleblech scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Washington County’s Ryan Silver tags out the Bronx’s Alvy Grullon at third base during Saturday’s Pony League World series game.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
When 10 teams converge on Washington County for the Pony League World Series, the wild, unpredictable and unthinkable can happen.
Then there was what occurred for nearly four hours Saturday afternoon between Washington County and the Bronx, N.Y.
Using nine different pitchers, overcoming a five-run deficit and scoring six runs on only one hit in the eighth inning, the Bronx held off a late rally from Washington County to defeat the host, 15-13.
Washington County will play the Brownsville, Texas/Tijuana, Mexico loser in an elimination game at 7:30 p.m. tonight.
“I probably have (seen something like that) in the number of years I’ve been coaching, but there hasn’t been many,” said Washington County coach Scott Downer.
Saturday afternoon offered the fans who crowded onto both sets of bleachers and the hillside beyond right field a chance to see a wild game. Very few of those who witnessed the entire three-hour, 36-minute nail-biter will soon forget this one.
“That was amazing,” said Hector Meregildo, the Bronx manager. “Everybody was nervous. That was too much stress. But I like a game like that. It was tight. It had emotion.”
The roller coaster of emotions took a turn for the worst for Washington County in the top of the eighth inning when it committed three errors, walked a batter, hit another and threw a wild pitch to fall behind 15-9. The Bronx broke a 9-9 tie when Julian Ventura drove a pitch to the bottom of the left-field fence to score Alvy Grullon.
“We knew all year our biggest bugaboo has been defense,” Downer said. “At one point, we had more errors than hits (in this game). We had our bad inning of defense at the worst time.”
But even down six, Washington County’s lineup wasn’t ready for the game to end.
The first four batters reached to open the bottom half of the eighth, and all eventually scored before the last-gasp rally ended with two strikes and the bases loaded.
Washington County scored in each of the first three innings to take an 8-3 lead until going in a slump with the multiple pitching changes made by the Bronx. Washington County had only two hits over the next five innings as the Bronx fought back behind the bat of Keldryn Rodriguez, who hit his second home run of the game to tie the score at 8-8 in the sixth inning. Samuel Abreu gave the Bronx the lead with a line-drive RBI single to right field.
“We just started swinging at bad pitches,” Downer said about Washington County losing its offense in the middle innings. We want to swing at bad pitches but then let a fastball go down the middle.
“All the timeouts and pitching changes cuts into your momentum.”
Washington County tied the score at 9-9 with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning when Austyn Winkleblech scored on a wild pitch. The run sent the game to extra innings.
Winkleblech had a no-decision after starting on the mound for Washington County. He allowed five runs and struck out five. Ryan Silver went 3-for-4 and scored twice for Washington County.
Abreu, who was the seventh pitcher for the Bronx, earned the victory after going 2 1/3 innings and allowing one run.
PONY Baseball rules require one day rest if a pitcher throws more 21 pitches. If a pitcher reaches 36, he requires two days of rest. Five of the pitchers Meregildo used are available to pitch at 2:30 p.m. today against Long Beach, Calif., which will be playing its first game in the series.
“We did the same thing against Ohio (in the region tournament),” Meregildo said. “I don’t want to risk (going over pitching limits). I have 12 good pitchers. It’s not easy. If you have that many you might as well use them.”