Pinto All-Stars Reach Regionals

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

The game was on the line when  Vance Clark took the mound for the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association’s Pinto 8U All-Stars in the last inning of Saturday’s elimination game at the PONY West Region playoffs in Pico Rivera.

Palisades seemed to have victory well in had with a commanding six-run lead, but Santa Monica pulled to within two and had the bases loaded when Clark threw his second strikeout to preserve a 10-8 victory. “I love coaching  the 8s because this is the first chance for them to be in the all-star playoffs,” Coach Josh Morrow said. “Today was my championship and I’m super poud of this team. We always start out with a disadvantage because our league doesn’t have live pitching. I like it, though, because without walks it means our boys have to field more balls. We advanced out of our District and Section and we’re as one of the 10 best teams in our region.”

Quincy Watson doubled to lead off the game and scored on a triple by Jett Teegardin. Palisades made it 2-0 in the second on an RBI single by Hayden Prince. In the third, Teddy Grandy singled to clear the bases and Hayes Weller scored on an inside-the-park home run to increase the lead to 7-0.

Palisades added insurance in the top of the sixth when Prince tripled to score Beckett Hoffman, Watson doubled to score Prince and later stole home.

Watson, Teegardin, Prince, Nathan Fox, Cash Morrow and Roman Hawk each had multiple hits for Palisades, which split its first two games against  Norwalk and Pico Rivera.

Teegardin pitched two shutout innings with two strikeouts and Fox pitched the next three before Clark took over for the sixth.

Palisades’ tournament run ended in Sunday’s 11-10 loss to East Long Beach. Also on the squad but unable to play versus Samo were Dylan Iwanyk, Jakob Heindel and Max Dorband.

The PPBA’s Mustang 10U and Bronco 12U All-Stars will host the PONY Section Tournament starting next Thursday, July 14, at the Field of Dreams.

The top four teams in each division of the five-day, double-elimination tournament will advance to the Super Region playoffs (Mustangs in San Marcos; Broncos in Whittier).

The PPBA Mustang All-Stars are Ben Leshgold, Crew Morrow, Gage Grimes, Grayden Levin, Harrison Rautbort, Henry Mariscal, Jack Gargiulo, Jensen Bell, Lukas Haas, Sammy Petrocelli, Saxon Wald, Thomas Wynperle and Jivan Girodet.

The PPBA Bronco All-Stars are Jack Bowden, Andrew Citron, Skyler Chang, Alex Denham, Holden Gering, Jack Gurevitch, Lucas Herman, Marty Kaplan, Garon Maxon, Truman Pauley, Henry Roth, Owen Roy, Dylan Tatum, Eli Weinbach and Oliver Yi.