The Anaheim 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars again showed their mastery
of the Newport Harbor Baseball Association Bronco A team with a 12-4
victory in the semifinals of the section tournament Monday night at
York Field in Whittier.
Newport lost twice to Anaheim in the sectionals and once in the
district tournament. Despite Monday's loss, Newport will advance to
the regional tournament as the No. 2 seed in Orange County -- behind
Anaheim -- by virtue of its 2-0, eight-inning victory over Los
Alamitos Sunday.
Danny Moskovits and Ryan Albert each pitched four innings of
shutout ball and produced offensively. Moskovits went 2 for 4 with a
double and Albert drove in a run in the eighth inning with a double
against Los Alamitos.
"That was possibly one of the best baseball games I have seen,"
Rich Hogan, the Bronco A Manager, said.
Hogan tinkered with the lineup Monday, giving pitching duties to
Jacob McCann, Jack Grace and Alex Maddox.
Albert, one of six 11-year-olds on the team, had two hits and two
RBIs while Michael Helfrich added two hits. Moskovits chipped in with
a hit and an RBI. Grace doubled, Blake Davey tallied two hits and
McCann added a single.
Newport scored its first run in the fourth after Helfrich singled
and stole second. Svendsen hit a grounder to the third baseman, who
threw to first, but Helfrich quickly went to third, sliding in safely
to beat a throw. Moskovits then hit him in with a sacrifice fly to
right.
"That sparked the guys up a little bit," Hogan said.
Newport cut the lead to 10-4 before Anaheim scored two more.
Newport will play the top-ranked team from Riverside in the first
round of the eight-team, double-elimination regional tournament
beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday in Chino Hills.
One team will advance from the sectional tournament to the zone
championship, the final step before the World Series.
