Encino Bats Fall Flat in the Colt Series Final

For the Encino all-star team, the end was much like the beginning at the Colt World Series.

On both occasions, the Valley entry in the tournament for 15 to 16-year-olds came up on the losing end of a close game with Puerto Rico, which won its third World Series title in six years Tuesday night by stopping Encino, 2-0, at Loed Stadium.

Encino managed only two hits against winning pitcher Carlos Diaz to conclude its season at 15-3.

“I didn’t think Diaz was that tough, but we were tired,” Encino Manager Ron McMackin said.

Of course, Puerto Rico was to blame for that, too.

The series champions sent Encino into the losers’ bracket with a 6-5 victory in a first-round game last week. That forced Encino to win four games to reach the championship round.

Encino needed to beat Puerto Rico twice to win the title, but with Diaz in control, it never got to that.

Diaz, who struck out four, allowed only a pair of singles by Mike Stephenson to shut down Encino.

Encino threatened only twice. In the fourth inning, Encino put runners at first and second with two outs and Stephenson came through with a single to right. Rex McMackin, however, was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

“It was still a scoreless game at that point, so it was a good chance to take,” Ron McMackin said. “As it turned out, that took some of our momentum away, though.”

Encino also had a pair of runners on in the seventh inning, but Diaz came through to earn the complete-game victory.

“We just didn’t hit,” McMackin said. “It’s a shame, but that’s baseball.”

Luis Benitez tripled in the fifth inning and singled in the seventh to produce both Puerto Rico runs.

Bobby Aparicio (4-1) took the loss for Encino, allowing six hits, striking out seven and walking two.

At the conclusion of a long tournament, McMackin was proud of his team’s comeback through the losers’ bracket.

After losing to Puerto Rico in the first round, Encino came back to defeat Hoosier, Ind., (2-1), Hawaii (7-3), Marietta, Ga. (12-7) and host Lafayette (7-6).

In the win over Lafayette, Encino got a run-scoring single from Greg Biley in the bottom of the seventh to stay alive. By Tuesday, however, the team had little left.

“We had some tired arms and we had played a lot of games,” McMackin said. “It looked like that was beginning to wear on us.

“But we can definitely play with Puerto Rico. If we could have won this game, it would have changed the momentum around for us in the next game.”

Encino didn’t get the chance.

The Encino all-stars were led by the hitting of Stephenson, Joel Wolfe and Rex McMackin, all of whom batted over .400 for the tournament.

Jeff Cirillo, the Southern Section Small Schools Player of the Year from Providence High, set a tournament record with seven runs batted in the victory over Marietta on Sunday.

Close, but not quite enough for McMackin’s team.

“I’m proud of the team because they didn’t give up,” he said. “We’ll try it again next year as a Palomino team.”