Bel Passi knocked out of Pony League World Series; La Quinta, San Jose unbeaten
Dreams of a World Series title ended quickly for the Bel Passi All-Stars.
The Modesto team of 12- and 13-year-olds bowed out of the double-elimination Pony-13 World Series on Saturday afternoon with a 13-5 loss to Hagerstown, Maryland.
Bel Passi, which lost its opener on Friday, 17-1 to La Quinta of Southern California, seemed to shake off that performance by jumping out to a 4-1 second-inning lead over Hagerstown.
However, Hagerstown scored three in the bottom of the second to tie it, four in the third and three in the fifth to put the game away.
In other games Saturday at Bel Passi’s baseball complex on Roselle Avenue in northeast Modesto:
- La Quinta defeated Sierra Madre of California, 11-2
- San Jose PAL beat San Antonio, 4-0
- Redondo of California beat Mount Pleasant, Michigan, 4-2
Bel Passi and Mount Pleasant have been eliminated.
On Sunday, San Antonio and Redondo meet at 10 a.m. with the winner advancing to play 2-0 San Jose at 4 p.m. At 1 p.m., Sierra Madre and Hagerstown play with the winner advancing to a 7 p.m. matchup with 2-0 La Quinta.
Bel Passi’s tournament-ending loss Saturday came after a crushing defeat in the opening game of the eight-team tournament.
Bel Passi gave up eight runs in the first inning to La Quinta and failed to get a hit in a game shortened to four innings because of the mercy rule.
The team from Southern California, however, was dominant. Its four pitchers combined for seven strikeouts. Bel Passi put the ball in play just four times and scored its only run with the help of walks and a two-out error in the third inning.
The tournament concludes Monday night with the championship game at 7.
All of the games are being livestreamed at pony13worldseries.org.
