The 73rd PONY League World Series wrapped up the opening-round schedule and eliminated a pair of teams in Sunday action. Play continues Monday with a pair of daytime eliminations, the Winners’ bracket contests under the lights. Division Finals are scheduled for Tuesday evening with the tournament’s championship game set for Wednesday night. Hear all of the action on WJPA-AM (1450) and online LISTEN HERE!
Sunday, Aug. 10 — Bracket
Corpus Christi 12, Barranquilla, Colombia 6 Edwin Ballestas stroked a grand slam in the top of the first but Colombia couldn’t make it stand as Corpus Christi rallied with a seven-run fourth inning to advance in the Winners’ bracket. Trailing 5-0, the South Zone champions used a wild pitch and JD Carvajal’s two run single to get within a pair after three. Josh Garcia tied the game in the fourth with a two-run single. Carvajal and Garcia both scored on JJ de los Santos’ seventh straight base hit. Two batters later, Gabriel Torres blasted a three-run home run, giving Corpus Christi plenty of breathing room. Garcia got the win despite the early barrage, working 5.1 innings. de los Santos extended his hitting streak to eight straight at-bats, one shy of the all-time record set in 1984. Ballestas’ grand slam is the 52nd in the history of the event, but his day was dimmed by taking the loss, charged with all seven runs in the decisive frame.
Chinese Taipei 14, Bronx 2 (Bronx eliminated) Yi-Le Li allowed just one hit and no runs over 4.1 innings and doubled in a pair of runs in the first as Chinese Taipei eliminated Bronx. Slowly and methodically, in typical Asia-Pacific fashion, Taipei pulled away from the East Zone squad, adding single runs in the third and fifth, two each in the fourth and sixth before scoring five times in the top of the seventh. Zi-Han Yang and Tany-You Zhang each drove in three runs, more than enough for Li who faced the minimum through three innings, allowing a single and two walks while striking out seven. CT was in the early elimination round by way of Friday’s 5-4 setback against Simi Valley, the first opening-round loss for Chinese Taipei since 2012.
Bay County 12, Grosseto, Italy 3 (Grosseto eliminated) Four Bay County pitchers combined to one-hit the European champions, ending Italy’s first-ever appearance in the World Series. The winners trailed 3-2 into the fourth but took advantage of six Grosseto errors over the final four innings. Meanwhile Kwess Mathews, Brody Kuhn and Ryder Southern did not allow a base hit over the final 4.1 innings of work, facing just two batters over the minimum over that stretch. Like Chinese Taipei, the North Zone squad blew the game open, scoring nine times over the final three frames. Mathews got the win, throwing 2.2 innings of no-run, no-hit relief. Kuhn had a double and a triple, Mason Krager added two hits and two RBI. Leonardo Faccincani doubled to plate Ruben Paviotti, then scored on consecutive groundout to take a 2-1 lead in the second.
Monday, Aug. 11
10:00 am Elimination Chinese Taipei vs. Barranquilla
12:30 pm Elimination Bay County vs. South Hills
4:30 pm Winners’ Bracket Monterrey vs. Simi Valley
7:00 pm Winners’ Bracket Washington County vs. Corpus Christi