Mission Hills Falls, 2-1, in Senior League World Series

Mission Hills, plagued by sloppy defense in the sixth inning, lost its first-round game, 2-1, Tuesday night to the Far East All-Stars in the Senior League World Series.

The Far East team, which is based in Ping-Tung, Taiwan, won on a single to left by Huang Yao-Chung in the sixth inning that scored Wu Kun-Fong. Wu had reached base on an error by Mission Hills second baseman Gary Pina.

Mission Hills, which won the West regional tournament Saturday in Buena Park, carried a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but Taiwan stormed back on the baserunning of Chen Chung-Chih.

Chen, a pinch-hitter, walked, stole second and took third on an error by third baseman Mike Rodrigues. Chih then came home with the tying run on Pina’s error.

The Mission Hills team had grabbed the lead in the top of the third.

Tim Costic opened the inning with a walk, but was forced at second on a grounder to the hole at second by Gary Pina. Taiwan’s shortstop overthrew first trying to turn a double play, allowing Pina to reach second. Brian Eldridge then reached first on a throwing error by Taiwan’s shortstop, which allowed Pina to score the unearned run.

A pair of errors by Mission Hills led to both Taiwan runs--but the West team had made two defensive gems in the third.

The first came when catcher J. R. Trugillo threw to second to cut down Hsaio Chung-Hao, who turned back after trying to stretch a leadoff double into a triple. The second was a sharp pickoff by pitcher Colin Hines to first baseman Fran Serna, following a single by Cheng Juin-Nan.

Hines, a left-hander, had a slow-breaking curve working well as he held Taiwan scoreless through the first five innings. Taiwan managed a hit in each of the first five innings, but could not deliver in the clutch.

Mission Hills blew a scoring opportunity in the sixth inning when Eldridge singled and Trugillo doubled, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. Taiwan pitcher Chen Chin-Tung settled down by getting the first two outs on popups to short. He then struck out Hines to end the threat.

Mission Hills dropped into the losers’ bracket of the eight-team double-elimination tournament and will meet a team from Belgium, representing Europe, today at 10:30 a.m. (PDT).