Youth Scene: Newport Pony outlasts Orange

The Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. Pony 13-and-under All-Stars started their third-round section game against Orange at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Four hours later, Newport had earned a 10-9 victory and moved on to the fourth round of the Pony sectional tournament. The locals play tonight against Los Alamitos, with the winner advancing to the final four.

Newport broke through in the top of the 12th inning, scoring four runs to take a 10-6 lead. With one out, Mason McGlaughlin sped home from third on a passed ball to break the deadlock. After a Keaton Cablay single, Garrett Davis then drove a two-RBI double to the wall in right-center.

After tacking on a much-needed insurance run, Newport took the field in the bottom on the 12th with a four-run lead, but the excitement was not over. Ryan Brown of Orange launched a three-run homer over the centerfield fence to bring Orange within one run. Though Orange would then single, Newport will seal the victory with a ground out to end the game.

Newport took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second, with Cablay and Liam Ogburn scoring on passed balls. Orange rallied back to take a 5-2 lead but in the fifth, some aggressive base-running and base hits by Davis and Will Hinkleman pushed three more runs across to even the score at 5-5.

Orange came back with a run in its half of the sixth inning, leaving Newport down a run entering their final at bat in the seventh. After Kellen Ochi drew a walk and stole second base, Rigsby Duncan punched a one-out base hit to right scoring Ochi to tie the score once again. Ogburn came out to pitch the seventh and shut down the Orange hitters, sending the game into extra innings.

For the next four innings, both teams would repeatedly get runners in scoring position but neither team could score. Center fielder Ochi made the spectacular defensive play of the night. With one out in the ninth, he threw a perfect strike to catcher McGlaughlin to tag out what would have been the winning run for Orange.

Davis ended the night with two singles and a double, and Ryan Maister added two hits to pace the Newport offense.

— Reader submission

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