Pony League World Series begins with 2 games
Mark Marietta/For the Observer-Reporter
Observer-Reporter
It has been a staple on the Washington County sports calendar since 1952, and the 2025 edition of the Pony League World Series gets underway today at Lew Hays Pony League Field located in Washington Park.
The festivities begin with a skills competition – home run derby and fastest baserunner – at 11 a.m. The first game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the tournament runs through Wednesday.
Chinese Taipei takes on Simi Valley, Calif., the West Zone champion, in the opening game.
It’s an intriguing matchup between two of the most successful zones in Pony League World Series history.
Chinese Taipei has won the world series 11 times, while teams from California have been victorious 22 times.
South Hills meets The Bronx, N.Y. in the second game today at 7:30 p.m.
The South Hills team won a grueling Host Area tournament, besting a field of 14 teams.
Former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher and Peters Township graduate Chris Peters is the manager of the South Hills team. Peters played for the Pirates from 1996-2000 before finishing his major league career with one season with the Montreal Expos.
There are four players from Peters Township on the South Hills team.
The Washington County team makes its world series debut at noon Saturday against Italy.
Washington County is coached by John Pryzbylinski and has players from Canon-McMillan, Trinity, Charleroi and Bentworth. They’ll try to be the first team from Washington County to win the world series in 70 years.
It is Italy’s first time at the Pony League World Series and the team is the Francisco Cervelli Baseball Academy, which is in Grosseto. Cervelli, who the team is named after, is a former Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees catcher. He played for the Pirates from 2015-19. He’s currently the manager of the Italian World Baseball Classic team.
Italy won the European Zone tournament.
Colombia is another national team making its world series debut. The Colombian team is from Barranquilla and will not play until Sunday.
They’ll play their first game at noon Sunday against the winner of Corpus Christi, Texas and Bay County, Michigan.
Corpus Christi and Bay County play at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Bay County won the North Zone and Coprus Christi took the South Zone.
Monterrey, Mexico’s first game is 5 p.m. Saturday against the winner of the Bronx, New York/South Hills game.
The Pony League World Series championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday.