Hopwood ousted from Pony League World Series by Brownsville (Tex.)
WASHINGTON – For one inning, Hopwood manager John Arison thought his team had turned the corner. He thought they’d pull one out. Starting pitcher Alberto Rodriguez of Brownsville, Texas had other plans, however.
After the first inning of its second game of the Pony League World Series Monday, Hopwood had scored as many runs and slugged out half the amount of hits it did in all of the first game.
Rodriguez, though, limited the Hopwood offense to only one hit over the next five innings with 10 strikeouts as Hopwood fell, 11-1, in a 10-run rule victory for Brownsville that eliminated Hopwood from the tournament.
“This wasn’t the same team out there either,” Arison said of his club. “We don’t usually play like this, but even so, I’m so proud of this team. All the kids and my coaches, we accomplished something here.”
Despite losing both of its games in the 2006 Pony League World Series, the Hopwood all-star team made it further than any other team ever from the Fayette County area.
“That’s something to hang your hat on,” Arison said. “I hope the kids realize what they accomplished.”
Hopwood took an early 1-0 lead after its half of the first inning on two hits.
Shortstop Evan Arison led off with a single and moved to second on Gio Schiano’s groundout. Third baseman Carmen Congelio doubled home Arison for the one-run advantage.
Brownsville responded in the bottom of the first, however, posting four runs on Hopwood starter Ethan Mildren.
Rodriguez singled and stole two bases to get to third base. Mildren walked two of the next three batters as a wild pitch and an error eventually scored all three. Frank Marrquin doubled home the final run of the inning.
Over the next three innings, Brownsville scored only twice, but sparked its offense back up in the sixth inning to end the game.
Brownsville racked up four hits on reliever Dylan Clifford, but was a wild pitch that sealed the game.
With runners on second and third, Clifford’s pitch skipped past catcher Ronnie Fudala and all the way to the backstop. Fudala’s throw to nail the first runner sailed over Clifford’s head, allowing the second run to score and finish off the 10-run rule.
“It’s tough,” Arison said. “You know, we didn’t expect to come out and here play like this and go home. So it’s tough on the kids.
“I just hope they know everyone is proud of them.”
Hopwood vs. West Tokyo
In its opening tournament game Saturday, Hopwood had a rough go against West Tokyo starting pitcher Shota Suzuki.
The hard-throwing right hander set down eight Hopwood batters by way of the strikeout – five swinging and three looking – through the first three innings.
Hopwood scored its only run of the game off of Suzuki during his final inning of work. With two outs, a walk and a single put two runners on for Evan Arison, who singled home Ben Kooser.
James Stambough, though, was thrown out at third on the play to end the inning.
“Our kids can hit fastballs,” Manager John Arison said. “You know, they really like to jump out on fast balls, but for some reason we couldn’t see his. He was throwing hard and we just weren’t hitting it.”
In both the sixth and seventh innings, Hopwood put at least two runners on base with one out, but failed to score each time as two West Tokyo relievers shut the door on a 7-1 victory.
Carmen Congelio tripled in the sixth for Hopwood and was followed by a walk to Zack Miller, putting runners at the corners. A strikeout and a fly out to center, though, ended the inning.
In the seventh inning, Hopwood loaded the bases with two outs for one final shot at a rally. A groundball off the bat of Congelio ended any threat with a simple force out at second base to end the game.
“You have got to give them all the credit,” Arison said. “They were a great team.
“We had our shots, but just couldn’t manage to get that one big hit to get us going. We started getting men on base and then everything would just die and their defense and pitching deserve some credit for that.”