Pony baseball: Cause for alarm

Barry Faulkner

FULLERTON - After a brusque postgame interview, one might theorize

Newport Harbor Pony 13-year-old All-Stars Manager Bill Gallagher got up

Sunday on the wrong side of the bed.

But, after witnessing his team’s 15-3 mercy rule-shortened loss to

Placentia in the first round of the District/Section Tournament at

Amerige Park, Gallagher took some solace in the belief that at least his

overnight slumber ended before he got to the ballpark.

“Newport didn’t show up today,” said Gallagher, who noted he he was

distraught about a number of factors that prevented his team from

performing to the level he expected. “We fell asleep early and we stayed

asleep.”

Newport Harbor, the designated visitor, appeared wide awake in the

opening inning, as it posted two hits on three runs to seize the lead.

Nick Frazier singled and scored all the way from first on Chris

Thompson’s single to right-center field, as it appeared the Placentia

outfielders were still in snooze mode.

Thompson later scored on an RBI single by Philip Martin as Harbor sent

seven hitters to the plate before taking the field.

Placentia countered with a single tally in the first, retired Newport

in order in the second, then posted the first of three straight big

innings.

A pair of Newport errors, the first of their six misplays, contributed

to Placentia’s five-run third, in which it batted around and lashed five

hits.

Placentia cashed in two more errors and four hits for three runs in

the third, then set up the 10-run mercy cushion by scoring six more in

the fourth, with five hits and two more Harbor errors.

When Newport Harbor was retired in order in the fifth, the game

concluded two innings early.

The loss dropped Newport Harbor into the second-chance bracket, where

it will meet Back Bay rival Corona del Mar Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at

Amerige Park. It will be the third postseason meeting between the two

local teams, which have split two pre-tournament meetings.

After its productive first inning, Newport Harbor had just two more

hits. Dustin Schuler singled with two outs in the third and, along with

Billy Munce and Martin, who had walked, was left on base.

Thompson, who earned postgame praise from Gallagher, doubled in

Frazier, who had walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch, to

produce Newport’s final run in the fourth.

“(Thompson) is playing harder than anyone on our team right now, by

far,” Gallagher said of the third baseman and pitcher, who retired the

only hitter he pitched to in relief to end Placentia’s fourth-inning

uprising.

Newport was not without defensive highlights. First baseman Ricky

Nelson slid to his knees to glove a sinking liner in the fourth.

Center fielder John Ashen-Zimmerman also triggered a sparkling

sequence for Newport when he ran down a double against the fence in left

center, threw a strike to shortstop and cutoff man Schuler, who in turn

rifled a throw home to catcher Munce. Munce applied the tag to nail a

runner trying to score from first base.

Thompson went 2 for 3 with two RBIs to highlight the Newport offense,

which stranded six runners.

Shane Youngdale had three hits, including two doubles, and four RBIs

for Placentia, which also received a pair of RBI triples from Michael

Visconti.

Placentia, which finished with 15 hits, produced at least one hit and

one run from eight spots in its lineup.