There are 14 Pony Baseball programs scattered throughout San Diego County, including five in South County.
Eastlake Pony made it the farthest among the local group by participating in last weekend’s elite West Zone tournament — one step away from qualifying for the Pony-13 International World Series.
Eastlake finished 2-2 in the eight-team venture, with both losses to the team from Hilo, Hawaii, that won the championship.
Hilo doubled up Eastlake, 4-2, in last Thursday’s opener to send Eastlake to the elimination bracket. Eastlake responded with elimination game wins over Camarillo (5-4 on Friday) and Foster City (6-4 on Saturday) to draw a rematch against the powerful Hawaii team.
But the second encounter against the Hawaiians did not go as well as the first. Hilo eliminated Eastlake, 18-8, to advance to the championship game.
Hawaii finished 4-0 at the zone tournament, outscored teams 48-14 in its four games and ran circles around teams by scoring 44 runs in its final three games.
However, it was a history-making showing for the fledgling Eastlake program.
“The team did go much farther this year, and we’re left hungry for the world series title,” Eastlake president Valerie Jauregui said. “The kids will be getting ready for next year.”
Going the distance
Despite Eastlake’s oustster, San Diego County is not shut out of Pony Baseball’s biggest summertime events. Two county programs are sending age-group teams to world championship events.
San Diego Competitive, which operates out of the Junior Seau Sports Complex in La Mesa, has landed a berth in the upcoming Pony-13 International World Series while Tecolote, located in the area surrounded by the Morena, Bay Park and Linda Vista communities, has qualified a team to compete in the Mustang 9U International World Series.
Both international championship tournaments start Friday, July 26, and end Monday, July 29 — the Pony-13 World Series in Whittier and the Mustang 9U World Series in Walnut.
It’s a big deal for Pony Baseball in the San Diego region and obviously a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the players and their families.
“It’s a big accomplishment for us in a short time,” San Diego Competitive manager Ryan Wheeler said of the program, which has been in existence for just four years. “It’s a big deal for the parents, who have seen the hard work pay off in making the transition from Little League to Pony Baseball. It’s a different pace of baseball.”
It’s also a big deal for Wheeler, who led the Valhalla High School baseball team to this year’s San Diego Section Division III championship title as head coach.
The Norsemen finished the 2019 season with a 25-8 record, defeating San Pasqual, 6-5, May 24 at SDSU’s Tony Gwynn Stadium. Prior to competing in the CIF playoffs, Valhalla won the Grossmont Valley League title with a 10-2 record.
Wheeler’s Pony-13 team has been quite successful as well.
San Diego Competitive has played 17 games to get to the World Series. The team has had to overcome adversity several times by successfully navigating through the elimination bracket in qualifying tournaments.
“We’ve never given up, the kids have learned to deal with the hand they have,” Wheeler said. “They have bonded together and understand the game, that when facing adversity they have the ability to make things happen … team chemistry is a big thing with this group.”
Batter up
San Diego Competitive finished 3-1 in its bracket to place runner-up to Chula Vista North at the San Diego Section tournament June 15-21 at Emerald Pony in El Cajon.
After a runner-up finish to Eastlake at the Southern California Region tournament June 22-23 at Emerald Pony, San Diego Competitive had its resolve severely tested in the massive 16-team Southwest Super Region tournament July 11-16 in Whittier and Glendora after dropping a 4-2 contest to Heartwell in the second game of the tournament.
But San Diego Competitive regrouped to finish 6-1 in the tournament by winning its last five games to finish as the No. 1 seed from Southern California for the West Zone tournament July 26-29 in Whittier.
San Diego Competitive edged Eastlake, 4-3, in the seeding bracket of the Super Region tournament to show just how close the competition is at the top level.
San Diego Competitive finished 3-1 at the West Zone tournament that ended last weekend in Whittier.
The East County-based team takes an overall 13-4 record into its opening game Friday at 10 a.m. against Johnstown, Pa.
The winner plays the winner of the Seoul (Korea)-Redondo Beach opener in Saturday’s second round while the losers of both first-round match-ups meet in an elimination game.
The tournament continues Sunday with elimination games. The championship game is scheduled Monday at 7 p.m.
San Diego Competitive wasted little time in making a statement at the West Zone tournament by defeating Scottsdale (Ariz.), 14-5, in its opener last Thursday and adding victories against San Francisco, 14-6, and Walnut, 4-2, on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The three wins propelled the San Diego team to the championship game against a team representing Hilo, Hawaii. The Hawaiians won, 12-0, but the top two teams earned berths to the World Series.
San Diego Competitive has answered the call with a balance of pitching and hitting, according to its manager.
“Mace Wheeler has pitched in some of the bigger games to get us to the next level,” the elder Wheeler said. “All round we have pitching depth. We’re able to call on everyone for a couple innings.”
Key contributors in the hitting department include Grant Yturralde and Nate Moulton while Colton Stinkeoway and Tanner Lough have contributed both at the plate and on the mound.
Also famous
Tecolote had to navigate through the challenger bracket at the West Zone tournament to earn its berth in the Mustang 9U World Series. The San Diego team defeated Vacaville and East Long Beach by scores of 15-5 and 6-3, respectively, before dropping an 11-3 decision to East Valley.
The Tecolote youngsters went to work from there by topping East Valley, 14-3, in a double-elimination game and then crushing East Long Beach, 14-8, in a rematch in the championship game.
Tecolote advanced to the zone tournament after winning the region tournament. Prior to that, Tecolote won the San Diego South Section championship by defeating Chula Vista South, 11-6, in the title contest.
The Mustang 9U World Series bracket features eight teams, including teams from Guasave, Mexico, and Manila in the Philippines, along with American-based teams from East Long Beach, Walnut (host), Torrance, Wilmington, N.C., Tecolote and Deer Park, Texas.
Tecolote meets Deer Park in Friday’s opener.
Additionally, the La Jolla Mustang 10U team punched its ticket to the West Zone tournament following an 11-8 win over Long Beach A in Tuesday’s Super Region seeding game.
The Mustang 10 International World Series is scheduled Aug. 2-5 in Youngsville, La.
PONY-13 INTERNATIONAL WORLD SERIES
Friday, July 26
Johnstown (Pa.) 3, San Diego Competitive 2
Seoul (Korea) 6, Redondo Beach 3
Tijuana (Mexico) 7, Hilo (Hawaii) 1
Houston (Texas) 21, Whittier 3
Saturday, July 27
Redondo Beach 10, San Diego Competitive 5 (elimination game)
Hilo (Hawaii) 10, Whittier 0 (elimination game)
Johnstown (Pa.) 8, Seoul (Korea) 2 (winners bracket)
Tijuana (Mexico) 4, Houston (Texas) 2 (winners bracket)
Sunday, July 28
Redondo Beach 4, Seoul (Korea) 2 (elimination game)
Hilo (Hawaii) 11, Houston (Texas) 1 (elimination game)
Redondo Beach 9, Johnstown (Pa.) 4 (semifinal)
Hilo (Hawaii) 5, Tijuana (Mexico) 1 (semifinal)
Monday, July 29
Hilo (Hawaii) 8, Tijuana (Mexico) 3 (double-elimination)
Johnstown (Pa.) 1, Redondo Beach 0 (double-elimination)
Championship game: Hilo (Hawaii) 10, Johnstown (Pa.) 6
MUSTANG-9 INTERNATIONAL WORLD SERIES
Friday, July 26
Guasave (Mexico) 13, Manila (Philippines) 2
East Long Beach 15, Walnut 5
Torrance 19, Wilmington (N.C.) 0
Tecolote 17, Deer Park (Texas) 1
Saturday, July 27
Walnut 21, Manila (Philippines) 6 (elimination game)
Deer Park (Texas) 14, Wilmington (N. C.) 7 (elimination game)
East Long Beach 7, Guasave (Mexico) 4 (winners bracket)
Tecolote 12, Torrance 8 (winners bracket)
Sunday, July 28
Manila (Philippines) 19, Wilmington (N.C.) 4 (exhibition game)
Torrance 8, Deer Park (Texas) 1 (elimination game)
Guasave (Mexico) 9, Walnut 3 (elimination game)
East Long Beach 8, Guasave 7(semifinal)
Tecolote 18, Torrance 4 (semifinal)
Monday, July 29
Championship game: Tecolote 10, East Long Beach 1
