Having won the PONY Section championship at the Field of Dreams a few days earlier, the Pacific Baseball Association’s Bronco 12U All-Star team headed into the West Zone Super Region tournament in Whittier full of confidence.
The PPBA’s 11U squad advanced to the finals at the same venue one week before and Manager Steve Kaplan’s team was eager to duplicate or better that feat, beginning Thursday with an 11-2 victory over Beaumont.
Consisting of Jack Bowden, Dylan Tatum, Owen Roy, Alex Denham, Andrew Citron, Jack Gurevitch, Skyler Chang, Truman Pauley, Marty Kaplan, Holden Gering, Henry Roth, Eli Weinbach and Lucas Herman, Palisades beat Simi Youth 22-7 in its second game Saturday and ousted Charter Oak 6-1 in the semifinals Sunday to earn a berth in Tuesday’s championship game against La Quinta at York Field.
Palisades needs to win one of its two games Tuesday (against La Quinta and possibly Olive) to advance to the Zone Championships Thursday through Sunday, also in Whittier.
After finishing second in the Section playoffs, the PPBA Mustang 10U All-Stars also advanced to the Super Region tournament in San Marcos.
Managed by Darren Wald and consisting of Sammy Petrocelli, Henry Mariscal, Ben Leshgold, Crew Morrow, Jensen Bell, Thomas Wynperle, Grayden Levin, Nathan Eisfelder, Saxon Wald, Lukas Haas, Harrison Rautbort, Jack Gargiulo, Jivan Girodet and Gage Grimes, the 10Us finished 2-2, losing Friday’s opener to Newbury Park 26-18, then beating Whittier (16-3) and San Marcos (8-6) Saturday before falling Sunday to Fontana 11-6.
— Steve Galluzzo
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