Bats carry Newport PONY into Mustang District semifinals
The Newport Beach 10-year-old PONY baseball All-Stars entered Friday’s action with a recent tournament championship already in their back pocket.
Several players had gotten hot during their run to the St. Hedwig Tournament crown, and the story remained the same in the team’s opener of the Mustang Districts Tournament at Bonita Canyon Sports Park in Newport Beach.
Five players notched multi-hit games for red-hot Newport Beach as the local All-Star club rolled into the semifinals with a 12-2 victory over visiting Irvine.
Left-fielder Ryan Rakunas and starting pitcher Andrew Niccol each drove in three runs.
Jackson McDonald, Brady Gadol, Miles Pluma, Will Urtel, and Rakunas each had two hits for Newport Beach.
Irvine led briefly 2-1 after run-scoring singles by Dylan Mutuc and AJ Hernandez in the top of the second.
The response from Newport Beach was swift, as the hosts struck for seven runs in the bottom of the second. Niccol earned himself the win by stroking a two-run double that rolled to the wall in left-center.
Urtel followed with an RBI-single, and Rakunas punctuated the rally with a two-run single that dropped in front of the right-fielder.
Rakunas’ favorite Major League Baseball player is Clayton Kershaw, and he sports the No. 22 jersey to match. He gave the credit to his teammates for getting into a position to help him drive them in.
“I owe it all to my teammates,” Rakunas said. “My swing has been pretty flat, and I’ve been focusing better than I was, so that has helped me.”
Newport Beach is two wins away from a district championship, and Rakunas allowed himself to speculate what that would feel like.
“To get my name on a banner up on this field, that would mean a lot,” he said. “I would be famous.”
Irvine did not record another hit after the second inning. Jake Long turned in three scoreless innings in relief of Niccol.
In recording the victory, Niccol said his go-to pitch was his slider.
“I love my slider because it has so much break,” he said. “The kids just don’t know what to do with the pitch when it comes at them.”
“They honestly have no idea what to do with it. They just look at it, and usually, it falls in the strike zone.”
Newport Beach had to expend just two arms in the game, but their coach, Brent Overfelt, said that it would not have been an issue either way.
“Strikes are everything,” Overfelt said. “Both those guys are strike-throwers. All of these guys pitched in the regular season. We’ve got nine or 10 pitchers.”
A rematch awaits Newport Beach, as the team is scheduled to face Seal Beach at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Seal Beach defeated Anaheim 10-9 to advance to the semifinals.
Newport Beach defeated Seal Beach in a pair of close contests in the St. Hedwig Tournament, which included a walk-off victory.
“They’ve got a good pitcher and a good catcher,” Overfelt said of Seal Beach. “Having a good catcher makes a big difference.”
It may very well make for a close game, as Newport Beach was able to run at will in its Districts opener. The local team stole 14 bases on Friday.
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
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