After the Mon Valley Ponies baseball team allowed four runs on five walks and two hit by pitches in the third inning of Sunday’s Pony League World Series elimination game against Long Beach, California, the Mon Valley Ponies knew they had to catch up immediately.
The team showed its resilience with two runs in the fourth, two more in the sixth and three in the seventh to win 7-4. Mon Valley will face Palmview (Texas) on Monday at 10 a.m., against whom it lost 6-2 in the tournament opener.
“One of their best qualities, aside from being good players, is their resilience,” Mon Valley manager Jason Plymire said. “They never let themselves get down. They’re always cheering each other on and keeping a positive attitude. That’s definitely what drives them.”
Zach Plymire was the hero on Sunday, getting the win on the mound and hitting the game-winning home run in the seventh inning. He threw 4 1/3 innings as a relief pitcher, allowing no runs, one hit and three walks.
“I was so happy and excited,” Plymire said of the home run. “It was the best moment of this tournament for me so far.”
“I had to throw more inside pitches today instead of throwing outside like I normally do. My curveball wasn’t as good today, so I relied more on my cutter and my changeup, and that threw the batters off a little bit.”
Mon Valley began its comeback when AJ Watson opened the fourth with a double to third base. After Plymire was walked and Jack Crovak retired, Cam Matusik hit a single to center field to make it 4-1.
Kennedy Nash then hit a sacrifice fly to right to give Plymire a point and cut the gap to 4-2.
Jack Crovak and Matusik opened the sixth with walks before Nash hit a ground ball into fielder’s choice. Demaris Tolliver then hit an RBI single to right to make it 4-3 and stole second base to put runners on second and third for Braylon Schoch.
Schoch did his job with an RBI groundout and tied the score at 4:4.
Mon Valley took the lead in the seventh when Jesse Sobczak hit a leadoff single and stole second base. Plymire then hit a hard home run to left-center field to give Mon Valley a final 6-4 lead.
Crovak followed with a home run to left field, making the score 7-4.
In the second half of the seventh inning, Plymire collected three quick outs and was able to score a point.
Now they hope to avoid their second loss to Palmview in another elimination game.
“It’s going to be tough, but that’s every game,” Jason Plymire said. “We’re going to see Texas again, so maybe we can get some revenge. It’s going to be tough because they have really strong pitchers, but now our guys have seen it. Hopefully that will help us.”
• Host Washington lost its opening game of the Pony League World Series 5-3 to Bronx, NY on Sunday
Landon Trnavsky scored on an error and Coen Phasupon had an RBI single for Washington. Landon Conn was 2 for 3 for Washington, which will face the winner of Bay County, Michigan and Spain in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. Monday.
