Yankees defeat Phillies to take Poway city title

In real life, Joseph Ronsse is no fan of the New York Yankees.

When he puts on his Little League uniform, however, he becomes a Yankee.

Last Friday, Ronsse had his best pitching performance of this season to help the Poway American Yankees to a 2-1 victory over the Poway National Phillies in the annual City Championship game at Tierra Bonita Elementary School, the home of Poway American.

“This is the game for city pride,’’ said Yankees’ manager Randy Bithell. “This is the one game most of these kids will never forget.

“For some of them, this is the final Little League game they’ll ever play. They’ll leave as a champion.’’

Each of the 12 players on the Poway Yankees roster will take possess the city championship trophy to keep at home for a week.

After two interleague losses to the Phillies the regular season season, the Yankees rode the three-hit pitching of Ronsse, who left after registering his seventh strikeout to open the seventh inning.

Ronsse walked two batters before hitting the limit of 85 pitches.

Left-hander Evan Rozsa got the final two outs around allowing a single, bringing the winning run to the plate.

Rozsa’s only strike out clinched the third consecutive city championship for Poway American.

“It was tough to watch those last two outs from the dugout,’’ Ronsse said. “Evan is a good pitcher, but I would rather have finished it myself.’’

The Phillies had beaten the Yankees twice this season, including a 12-3 decision back on Apr. 30.

Bithell had no second thoughts about handing the ball to Ronsse for the third meeting with the Phillies knowing he matched up well with their attack.

“If we were going to win, it would have to be a one-run game,’’ Bithell said. “We needed an amazing pitching performance from Joseph Ronsse and that’s exactly what we got.

“We hadn’t won a single game against Poway National this season until this one.

The Yankees scored both their runs in the first inning.

Quinn Bithell singled in the first run and what proved to be the game- winning run scored on an error.

Nathan Kidwell of the Phillies left in the second inning and Cole Hoffman allowed just one hit over the final four innings, striking out nine along the way.

The Yankees’ shutout lasted until the fifth inning when a pair of errors set the stage for Vinny Painter’s double to cut the deficit to one run.

“I just kept trying to do my job,’’ Ronsse said. “I was nervous all day (Friday) at school.

“Sometimes, we don’t show up to play. Sometimes, we do. Today, we did right from the start. Today, is one day it’s good to be a Yankee.’’

Two years ago, Ronsse played in the Minor A city title game but lost.

Not this time.

In the Minor A city title game, the Poway National Phillies blanked Poway National Angels 4-0.

Jacob Wilson of the Phillies pitched five strong innings, allowing one hit and no runs.

In the Minor B city championship game, the Poway American Royals downed Poway National Diamondbacks 11-1 in a game shortened by the mercy rule.

Dominic Klepsch of the Royals pitched three innings and allowed one run while his teammates blasted 11 hits.