Washington County locked up its second trip to the PONY League World Series finals in three years with a comfortable win over Corpus Christi, eliminating the South Zone champions in the process. Chinese Taipei staved off elimination again, handing Simi Valley its first loss and forcing an extra game in that division. Hear all of the action on WJPA-AM (1450) and online LISTEN HERE!
Tuesday, Aug. 12 — Bracket
Chinese Taipei 13, Monterrey, Mexico 0 (Monterrey eliminated) The Asia-Pacific champions extended their consecutive runs mark to 39 with the five-inning win, eliminating Monterrey. Home runs by Ting -Han Hung, En Chen and Yi-Le Li paced the 15-hit attack. Chieh-Yu Sung drove in three runs to help Hung to the win. CT sent 12 batters to the plate in the final inning, scoring six runs and invoking PONY’s run rule. Monterrey managed just two hits in the loss.
Corpus Christi 9, Bay County 4 A six-run second put the South Zone team in control and JJ de los Santos cruised to a complete-game victory to stay alive in the tournament. Bay County got back in the game with two runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth but didn’t have another base runner. Five different batters drove in runs for the Texans who took advantage of four errors as well. Corpus Christi banged out 13 hits to earn a rematch with Washington County in the Division Final.
Division Final Chinese Taipei 5, Simi Valley, CA 3 Chinese Taipei won a fourth straight game facing elimination and forced an If Necessary contest by handing the West Zone champions their first loss of the World Series. Chieh-Yu Sung singled home a pair of runs in the first, Zi-Han Yang delivered an RBI groundout i the third and a Tang-You Zhang squeezed home the final run in the fifth, extending CT’s consecutive run mark to 44. Simi Valley scored three times in the sixth, and brought the potential tying run to the plate in each of the final two innings. Riely Loggins doubled and went to third when Sawyer Jackson struck out but reached on a throwing error. Shane Smith’s ground out scored Loggins before JJ Vargas walked. Ean Devine doubled to drive in a pair, pulling Simi Valley within 5-3. Ting-Han Hung got the win, tossing 3.2 shut out innings, allowing four hits. Shih-Min Chung worked the final 3.1 innings without allowing an earned run to pick up the save.
Division Final Washington County 11, Corpus Christi, TX 0 (5 inn.) Lucas Daniels homered for the second straight game and Clint Havanis was masterful on the mound as Washington County clinched a berth in Wednesday’s championship game, besting the South Zone entry in run-rule style. Kaden Harkins doubled home a run in the first and Niko Vitale scored on a error to give the Hosts a 2-0 lead. one inning later, with Andrew Irwin aboard, Daniels blasted a towering shot to left-center, igniting the crowd. Carson Simmers drove in another run later in the second and the blowout was on. Havanis allowed just a leadoff single in the bottom of the second, facing just two batters beyond the minimum, striking out seven. Washington County added single runs in the third and fourth then sealed the deal with a four-spot in the fifth, sending 10 batters to the plate. Vitale tripled home one run, Harkins singled in another and Ashton Fike’s pinch-hit double set the final score. With the win, the hosts await the Chinese Taipei / Simi Valley winner in the title game.
Wednesday, Aug. 13
10:00 am IF Necessary game Chinese Taipei vs. Simi Valley, CA
7:00 pm PONY World Series Championship: Washington County vs. If Necessary winner