PONY BASEBALL DISTRICT PLAYOFFS
For four innings, it looked like the Pacific Palisades Mustang all-stars were on their way to clinching a berth in the Pony Baseball Sectional tournament. They enjoyed a 3-0 lead over Torrance in the championship game of Tuesday evening’s District playoffs and left-hander Jackson Bantle was pitching a gem. Suddenly, the Torrance bats came alive and when the dust settled after the top of the fifth inning, the host team trailed, 6-3. Torrance held on for a 7-4 victory at the Field of Dreams and secured the automatic bid to the Sectionals, the second stage of the Pony National tournament. Palisades, hosting the District playoffs for the first time ever, played Paramount for second place Wednesday (result unavailable at press time), with the winner joining Torrance at the Sectionals, beginning Friday at Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach. Palisades came from behind to beat Paramount, 8-6, in the first round last Friday, but Paramount rebounded to reach the final of the loser’s bracket with a 12-3 win over Pico Rivera Tuesday. Torrance defeated Cheviot Hills, 8-2, and Pico Rivera, 10-0, to reach the championship game. ‘I told the kids beforehand that we had these guys right where we wanted them,’ said Palisades head coach Bill Elder, whose team had lost to Torrance, 16-3, in a practice game several weeks before, when Palisades was without several of its players. ‘Torrance beat us pretty convincingly last time so I figured they might come into this game overconfident. I really felt that if we played our best we could beat them.’ Keeping opposing batters guessing with a variety of pitches, Bantle did not give up a hit through the first four innings, allowing just two walks and striking out six. By rule he was not available to throw Wednesday because he went more than three innings on Tuesday, but Elder said it was a chance he had to take. ‘Jackson was pitching great and we were ahead, so why not let him keep going? Sure, it was a gamble but you have to give the other team credit. Our strategy was to make them hit the ball and they found some gaps. They won, but at least we made them earn it.’ Palisades wasted little time getting on the scoreboard. Wylie Beetley reached on an error, promptly stole second, then scored when teammate Brett Elder hit a come-backer to the pitcher, whose errant throw to first rolled into right field. The home team tacked on two more runs in the third when Paul Kirkpatrick and Matt McGeagh each scored on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded. ‘I was proud of the way everyone played,’ Bill Elder said. ‘Our defense was awesome and we capitalized on a few mistakes they made. I really think these were the two best teams playing for the championship.’ In its first game against Paramount on Saturday, Palisades fell behind 5-0 in the first inning and trailed 6-1 after two innings, at which point Bill Elder huddled his players up and reminded them that there were still four innings left. ‘The first thing I said was, ‘So what, there goes our shutout,” Elder joked. ‘I think that sort of relaxed them. They could easily have just packed it in and given up but they didn’t. They showed a lot of character and poise by coming back.’ In danger of dropping to the loser’s bracket, where it would be one more loss from elimination, Palisades rallied behind clutch relief pitching by Brett Elder and Beetley. Palisades chipped away at Paramount’s lead and pulled to within 6-3 by the fourth inning. In the top of the third, McGeagh made a diving catch at second base, then third baseman Cade Hulce threw to catcher Kirkpatrick, who blocked home plate and tagged out a Paramount runner to prevent Palisades from falling further behind. Palisades erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fifth, the key hit being a two-out, two-strike double by Joe Rosenbaum that scored two runs and broke a 6-6 tie. Bantle fielded a sharply hit grounder down the first base line and stepped on the bag to end the game. On Sunday, Palisades’ offense was clicking on all cylinders in a 12-2 rout of Wilmington that was stopped after four innings because of the mercy rule. McGeagh had three hits as Pali scored seven times in the first inning and two in both the second and third to build a commanding 11-1 lead. Beetley, Elder, McGeagh and Justin Ruder each had multiple hits. Chris Duval’s sacrifice fly to center scored Ruder to give Pali a 10-run lead and end the game. Bill Elder, who led the Cubs to the PPBA Mustang Division championship in June, added that Drew Pion, Alex Flutie, Jackson Kogan and Dawson Rosenberg were also key contributors in Palisades’ first three games. ‘We were up against eight of the best 10-and-under teams in the area and we made it to the championship game on our home field,’ he said. ‘You can’t ask for much more than that.”
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