PPBA Champs!

Pinto Tigers, Mustang Rockies and Bronco Tigers Win World Series

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor         

All season long Sara Prokop has been more than merely a team mom to her twin boys Ben and Joe and the rest of the Pinto Tigers.

She has also been their head coach and last Tuesday afternoon she and they made history by capturing the Pacific Palisades Baseball Association championship at the Field of Dreams. She became the first woman to lead a team to victory in the World Series since Bob Benton took over as Commissioner in 1989.

“No,” Benton confirmed when asked if he recalled a lady coaching any team in any age division to the title in his 33 years running the local Pony league. “Under my watch, this is a first!”

The Tigers edged the American League rival Royals 9-8 in a contest every bit as thrilling as the final score indicated. The back-and-forth affair went right down to the wire as the Royals plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull within one run and had runners on first and second when Tigers second baseman Ben Prokop scooped up a grounder and threw to first base for the final out. Jake Jaret was 3-for-3 in a losing cause for the Royals.

A double to the fence by Parker Lemen ignited the Tigers’ four-run third inning but the Royals roared back with six runs of their own in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead. The Tigers put up five runs in the bottom half to surge back in front, then held off one last Royals rally to avoid a deciding game Thursday.     

“All of our games with them were super close and there was so much support on both sides in the final—the parents were all there, players and coaches from other divisions came out to watch, of course Bob [Benton] was on hand and of course everyone went absolutely nuts at the end,” Royals assistant coach Adam Jaret said. “Sara [Prokop] is terrific and did a great job with the Tigers.They were strong up the middle with her sons Ben at second and Joe at shortstop. They were like Hoover vacuum cleaners—they just sucked up everything hit their way.”       

The teams had met in the winner’s bracket finale 10 days before and the Tigers prevailed 9-7, but the Royals earned a rematch by knocking off the Yankees 9-8 on a walk-off hit by Nicole Sacks to advance out of the loser’s bracket.

Rounding out the Tigers’ championship roster of 7 and 8-year-olds were Leaf Armm, Jack Cowper, Lucas Greenbaum, George Himes, Avid Homayounfar, Theo Kavayiotidis, Avery Lemen, Logan Perez, Conor Reyna and Archer Sampson.

After losing four of their first six games the Tigers got on a roll and won 14 of their last 15­­—including four straight in the postseason—to finish 16-5 with 227 runs scored.

Assistant coach Brendan Armm praised the players for their mental fortitude during a demoralizing stretch in March that saw them suffer losses to the Pirates, Cubs, Red Sox and Orioles: “If you can support each other in the hard times, like when you strike out or make an error, then you’ll have success.”

The Tigers’ triumph extended the American League’s streak of Pinto champs to four straight seasons. The Red Sox won it all in 2019 and 2021 (the 2020 season was canceled) and the Yankees won it in 2018. In fact, American League teams have won eight of the last 10 Pinto titles. The Tigers last won a Pinto title in 2012. 

Before Prokop, the last female to pilot a PPBA winner was Carol Wallin, who coached the Expos to the Intermediate Division (ages 9-10) championship in 1980 when her son Bruce was the shortstop.

The Mustang Division (ages 9-10) whittled down to the Rockies and Cubs, 10 days after the teams met in the winner’s bracket finale, when the third-seeded Rockies upset the top-seeded Cubs, 9-6. The Cubs, coached by Tripp Nassour, rebounded to edge the Yankees 5-4 in an elimination game to earn their spot in the World Series.

In the first inning, Marlon Dunn was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a close play at the plate on a wild pitch. The Rockies added a run in the second when Tyler Racanelli singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by River Wang.

The Rockies broke the game open in the third. Dunn walked and scored on a double by Perrish McGinn. Then, Ethan Montminy scored on a ground ball by Zack Emmanuel and McGinn scored on a wild pitch.          

Will Reierson was stellar on the mound, pitching three and one-third innings with five strikeouts before being relieved by McGinn, who had four strikeouts. Jackson Hoek caught a fly ball to center for the second-to-last out, then second baseman Wang scooped up a grounder and threw to first baseman Max Binder to complete the Rockies’ 5-2 win. It was the first World Series title for the Rockies franchise since it was added to the PPBA’s Mustang and Pinto Divisions when the league expanded in 2021.

Coached by Ollie Dunn, the Rockies avoided a winner-take-all second game by playing error-free baseball for six innings. They ended up with a 14-6 record and scored 190 runs after having finished one game behind the Cubs in the National League standings.

Rounding out the victorious Rockies’ roster were Elliott Laffer, Beckett Misher and Hunter Sheldon.

In the Bronco Division (ages 11-12), the top-seeded Tigers, coached by Matt Badt, took on the Cubs, who had battled through the loser’s bracket with wins against the Cardinals, Orioles and Red Sox to reach the finals.

The Tigers took an early lead on a two-run triple by Owen Gallagher with two outs in the bottom of the first inning, followed by a single from Dylan Goldstein that scored Gallagher.

After that, the game settled into a pitcher’s duel with starter Duke Badt allowing only one hit and striking out five batters in three and two-third innings. Tribe Edwards pitched the remaining two and one-third innings for the winners, giving up three hits with four strikeouts to close the game. The Tigers added an insurance run in the fourth when Gallagher singled, advanced to third on a sacrifice by Josh Glaser and alertly stole home on a wild pitch to make it 4-2. That was the final score.

The Tigers posted a 14-3 record in the regular season and entered the playoffs hot, winning their last five in a row and 11 of their last 12. They were undefeated versus American League opponents and their momentum carried over to the playoffs, where they won four straight games to finish 18-3 with a total of 184 runs scored and only 86 allowed.
Rounding out the roster were Hudson Clark, Ethan Davis, John Gibbons, Max Goldberg, Gabriel Goldstein, Jayce Murphy and Russell Reyna.

The PPBA’s inaugural Shetland Division playoffs wrapped up a week earlier, with the Dodgers outscoring the Red Sox 14-13 in the finals. Pali Red beat Pali Black 10-1 for the Pony Division (ages 13-14) title May 15.