Manchester snaps 68-year drought in series
Don’t expect the team from Manchester, N.H., to be unnerved by playing in its first Pony League World Series in 68 years.
This is a team that just won’t fall apart. Just ask the team from Hagerstown, Md., which lost twice to Manchester in the East Zone finals this year, 4-3 in the first game and 9-1 in the second as Manchester got into the world series for the first time.
“This year is the first one, the first one. And I think you’ve only had Pony baseball for 68 years,” said Manchester manager Micah Durham. “We ended our regular season on the 13th of July. And the guys have been phenomenal. They practice every day. A lot of the kids come from these little communities around Manchester.”
Manchester swept the East Super Regional Tournament in New Jersey with an 18-2 victory against the Brooklyn Cougars and a 15-0 victory against NY Federation/Metro Brooklyn Bonnie’s on July 31, followed by a 14-6 victory over NY Federation/Metro Brooklyn Bonnie’s.
That gave Manchester a spot in the East Zone Regional Tournament in High Point, N.C., where Manchester downed Wentworth, N.C., 15-0, Chesterfield, Va., 11-1 and East Zone champions in 2019, Hagerstown, Md., 4-3 and 9-1.
“We had a team win a game in the East Zone tournament in 2019,” said Durham. “We had to play (Hagerstown) twice because they were in the winners’ bracket. We couldn’t wait for the game to start. We had been on the road for a long time because our tournaments went back-to-back.”
Because of rain delays, the first tournament ended late and the team drove 5 ½hours back to Manchester. The next day, the team got on a bus and made a 14-hour trip to North Carolina for the zone tournament.
“We made it to the finals against Hagerstown,” said Durham. “Rain delayed us. We were supposed to start at 10 o’clock in the morning and it didn’t start until 7:30 at night. We just wanted to go home. At 11 p.m., some of us got in our cars and drove back. It was a very long 11 days we played. The tournament before that had a lot of rainouts. We had three different venues because of the rain.”
Manchester plays Johnstown, a Host Area representative, at 8 p.m. today at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park to start the Pony League World Series. Opening ceremonies are at 4:30 p.m. and Brownsville, Texas, the South Zone champion, plays San Jose, Calif., the West Zone champion, in the 5:30 p.m. opener.
On Saturday, Bay County, Mich., the North Zone champion, takes on Bayamon, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean Zone champion, at 5:30 p.m. Washington County, the host team, plays Youngstown, Ohio, the Host Area runner-up, at 8 p.m.
“They knew if they put it all together, they would be tough to beat. That’s the key, putting it all together,” Durham said. “We’re going to come up against some really good pitchers and we’ll see how good we are. It’s a good barometer for the team and will show us how far we can go.”
Durham said he had not decided on a starting pitcher for that game yet but said he has really good pitching and a good defensive team.
“You know what’s funny? After we won the zone and we’re celebrating in the outfield, holding the banner near the outfield scoreboard, the manager of Hagerstown came up to me,” said Durham. “He said you have a great team but you have a tough draw. He said, ‘You are going to run into a really good pitcher. I don’t know if you looked into them or not.’ And I could tell he had. I just looked at him and said, ‘No.’
“He was super nice and he got me thinking so I did a little work and he’s right. We have a tough draw. I don’t think there is an easy draw. You look up and down and their records are 17-0 and 18-0. We’re 7-0, and I don’t think we know just how good we are. yet.”
Pony League World Series
At Lew Hays Pony Field
Friday, Aug. 13
Browsnville, Texas vs. San Jose, Calif., 5:30 p.m.
Johnstown vs. Manchester, N.H., 8 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 14
Bayamon, P.R. vs. Bay County, Mich., 5:30 p.m.
Washington County vs. Youngstown, Ohio, 8 p.m.