Newport Beach beats rival Newport Harbor for PONY Super Region title

Disaster nearly struck for Brady Gadol in the bottom of the first inning Tuesday night, and it had nothing to do with his pitching performance for the Newport Beach Baseball Assn. 11-and-under All-Stars.

Gadol, a left-hander, was plunked on his left shoulder heading back to second base on a pickoff move by the rival Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. The ball went into center field, and Gadol winced as he advanced to third.

By the time he came back out to the mound for the second inning, he said he was still in a lot of pain.

“Then I kind of shook it off,” Gadol said.

With the PONY Bronco 11-and-under Super Region tournament title on the line, there was no chance of Gadol exiting the game. In a handful of years, these kids will be competing for the Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools, but Gadol delivered in the most important Battle of the Bay game of his life so far.

Gadol threw a two-hit shutout as Newport Beach beat Newport Harbor 3-0 in the Super Region title game at York Field in Whittier. The Newport Beach Tridents punched their ticket to the PONY Bronco 11U West Zone tournament, and coach Tom Nick said his squad is the first team in the three-year history of the Newport Beach Baseball Assn. to accomplish that feat at any level.

The West Zone tournament is a double-elimination, eight-team tournament. The winner goes to the Bronco 11U World Series, scheduled for July 27-30 in Chesterfield, Va.

Newport Harbor then lost to Escondido 16-2 in a game for second place at Super Regions, ending its season. Newport Beach and Escondido advance to the West Zone tournament, which begins Thursday. Newport Beach opens the tournament with a game against a team from Seattle on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Creekside Park in Walnut.

Newport Beach now has a 15-2 record this All-Star season, Nick said. Tuesday’s win helped the Tridents get revenge for a 14-5 loss to Newport Harbor in the district championship game on June 23.

“They’re the best team we’ve faced, so for us to play up to that level and come out on top is a big accomplishment for our kids,” Nick said. “The kids are improving, both individually and as a team. When you play these close games, you’re going to going to get better in all facets — pitching, defense, base running, fielding.”

Newport Beach first baseman Dylan Andrews said the Tridents were definitely underdogs coming into Tuesday’s game, but they struck first in the top of the first inning.

Gadol, the leadoff hitter, reached on a full-count walk and stole second. He took third when the pickoff throw hit him in the shoulder, then scored on an RBI groundout by No. 2 hitter Jackson McDonald.

Gadol made sure Newport Harbor couldn’t do the same. He had a no-hitter going until the top of the sixth, when Gavin Guy laced a one-out single to left.

“My curveball during the first innings wasn’t very good, but luckily I got it [together],” said Gadol, who walked five and struck out three. “I got a good grip on the changeup and started throwing changeups to keep them off-balance.”

Newport Harbor starting pitcher Bode Stefano, a right-hander who went 4 1/3 innings, nearly matched Gadol pitch for pitch. But Newport Beach added to its lead in the bottom of the fifth.

Garrett Ip led off with a single to right, stole second and went to third on a throwing error. Keegan DeMots, the No. 9 hitter, followed with a run-scoring single to right.

Gadol’s single to center was Newport Beach’s third straight hit, but Stefano then snagged McDonald’s comebacker to the mound, throwing to third for the force out.

Newport Harbor coach Sean Pence inserted Guy at pitcher. After a double steal, Ip scored on a grounder to shortstop for the 3-0 lead.

That was more than enough support for Gadol, who got out of a jam in the top of the sixth, when Guy singled and Ryan Williams walked. They advanced to second and third with one out, but Gadol induced a popup to shortstop before striking out the next batter for the third out.

Nick said his formidable pitching staff, which includes Gadol, Andrews, Andrew Niccol, Ganon Overfelt and Jamie Ott, typically relies on changeups to keep opposing hitters off-balance. It worked against Newport Harbor.

Andrews, Overfelt and Brady Annett also had hits for Newport Beach, while Matthew Melton also contributed.

“[Gadol] was very, very impressive,” Newport Harbor coach Sean Pence said. “Our guys didn’t see the ball like they normally do. All the credit goes to their defense and their pitching. That was an incredible defensive performance by that team, and they did what they needed to do to get a little bit of offense. My hat goes off to them. Great win by a well-coached team.”

matthew.szabo@latimes.com

Twitter: @mjszabo