Pearl City unbeaten in Junior World Series
Special to The Advertiser
Pearl City withstood a seventh-inning rally from Ankeny, Iowa for a 9-8 victory in the Little League Junior (ages 13 to 14) World Series at Taylor, Mich.
Pearl City is 2-0 in pool play and meets Fort Worth, Texas (0-2) at 2 p.m. today Hawai'i time.
Pearl City led 9-7, but Ankeny closed to 9-8 and had a runner at third with one out in the seventh and final scheduled inning.
Reliever John Abreu struck out the next two batters to preserve Pearl City's victory.
Kamuela Perry-Chong batted 2 for 5 and had two RBIs for Pearl City, which amassed 11 hits.
Ace Nago's homer started Pearl City's scoring in the second. But Ankeny scored five runs in the second for a 5-2 lead.
Ankeny increased its lead to 7-4 before Pearl City scored five runs in the fifth — spurred by Bryson Nakamura's three-run double — to take the lead for good.
— Neal Ruhl
Pearl City 020 250 0—9 11 3
Ankeny, Iowa 050 200 1—8 7 2
Kamuela Perry-Chong, David Lee (3), John Abreu (5) and Nainoa Tampos.
W—David Lee. Leading hitters: Kamuela Perry-Chong 2-5, 2 RBIs; Ace Nago homer; Matt Tanid double, RBI; Bryson Nakamura double, 3 RBIs.
PONY WORLD SERIES
Mililani rallies past Puerto Rico, 8-3
When Mililani played stagnant baseball, it floundered. When the West Zone champion put players in motion and forced the issue, it flourished.
Using a combination of sacrifices, hit-and-run plays and stolen bases, Mililani forced Caguas, Puerto Rico, to make the plays, which the Caribbean Zone team did not.
Mililani scored five runs in the sixth inning with the help of three errors to post an 8-3 victory yesterday in the Pony League World Series (ages 13 to 14) at Washington, Pa.
Mililani can rest in the winners' bracket until Thursday, when it plays the winner of tomorrow's elimination game between Caguas and Okinawa, Japan.
Kyle Gonzaga pitched a complete game and allowed three runs — one earned — on four hits. He struck out 11 and walked two.
Jay Yoshizawa reached on an infield single and scored when a throwing error went up the first-base line on Kanalu DeMello's sacrifice bunt. After Waylen Sing Chow's single put runners on first and third, a wild pitch by Caguas relief pitcher Benjamin Gonzalez scored the second run of the inning.
T.J. Esclito and Sing Chow scored on an RBI single by Darby Ventura. Then, Esclito and Ventura both scored on a double-error by catcher Jonathan Padro.
Dustin Antolin scored on a bases-loaded walk and Travis Derby scored on a wild pitch for Mililani in the second inning. Mililani also scored in the fifth on an RBI double by Jared Nagai.
— Doug Street
Mililani 020 015 0—8 8 1
Caguas 200 010 0—3 4 4
Kyle Gonzaga and Darby Ventura. Kenneth Rogue, Benjamin Gonzalez (4), Christopher Fonseca (6) and Jonathan Padro. W—Gonzaga. L—Gonzalez.
