Aug 10, 2024 By Jonathan Guth 3 min read

Long Beach, Calif., has had a whirlwind of a week.

The West Zone Champion had to win on Sunday to ensure a spot in the 10-team Printscape Pony League World Series before flying to Pittsburgh International Airport on Thursday.

Then, manager Matt Paige’s team had to play Caribbean Zone Champion Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, on Friday night to open the tournament.

Six errors, coupled with some timely hitting and solid pitching from Guaynabo, hindered Long Beach in a 12-1 setback that was called after six innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

“We made a lot of mistakes, but they (Guaynabo) are a good baseball team,” Long Beach manager Matt Paige said. “We are still getting used to the time change. We had guys falling asleep today at the luncheon, and every time I look around, someone’s asleep.

“I’m sure it played a little bit of a factor, but I think a lot of it was the big stage, and that’s probably where most of those mistakes in the first inning came from.”

Guaynabo will play the winner of Palmview, Texas, and Chinese Taipei on Monday at 4:30 p.m.

“We have the same plan no matter who is the opponent,” Guaynabo manager Rafael Cruz said through an interpreter. “We use our pitching, attack with our hitting and capitalize on any errors.”

Long Beach returns to action on Sunday against Mon Valley in an elimination game. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

“We are all looking forward to the challenger game tomorrow, and I think that will help us recharge our batteries,” Paige said. “We will probably do some light work tomorrow. We just have to get back to what we are. We are a good ball club, and need to understand that sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield, and today, we were the bug.”

Dylan Padilla’s two-run single gave Guaynabo an early lead in the first inning. Guaynabo extended its advantage to 3-0 on Jehiel Hernandez’s sacrifice fly out to center field. Long Beach committed two errors in the first.

“The kids capitalized on every error,” Cruz said.

Guaynabo scored five runs on two hits in the third for an 8-0 lead. Long Beach’s struggles in the field continued, as it made two errors. All five runs came with two outs.

“Nobody in this tournament can make those mistakes and hang with these guys,” Paige said. “They had six guys on their team that were bigger than my biggest guy.”

Padilla’s two-run homer in the sixth put the mercy rule into effect, as Guaynabo increased its advantage to 10-0. Guaynabo added two more runs for a 12-0 lead.

Gean Figueroa started for Guaynabo and didn’t allow a run on one hit over 3 1/3 innings. He had seven strikeouts without a walk in throwing 39 pitches.

“We have very strong pitching and defense,” Cruz said. “We had a plan for our pitcher to throw so many so he can come back after only one day’s rest.”

Dereck Garcia relieved Figueroa in the fourth. He allowed one earned run on two hits in two innings. Garcia had three strikeouts and walked two.

Carlos Arroyo came in for Garcia in the sixth after Long Beach got on the scoreboard following Nicolas Seib’s RBI single that scored Ty Gallo.

“They didn’t stop, and they kept fighting and screaming until the end,” Paige said. “This group, their motto is, ‘worry about the next moment.'”

Arroyo recorded two strikeouts to close things out for Guaynabo.