NMPC: Newport Harbor 14s lost in finals
Tony Altobelli
LOS ALAMITOS - The rolling blackouts which have engulfed the
Southern California area presided directly over the Newport Harbor Pony
All-Stars’ dugout during the finals of the Los Alamitos Invitational
Tournament.
Newport’s 14-year-olds, the first Pony Division team to reach the
finals of the Los Alamitos Invitational, went up against some tough
pitching and lost to host Los Al, 4-0, Tuesday night.
“It was a great run for us just to make it to this point,” Manager
Taras Young said. “Tonight, we went up against some very good pitching
and we didn’t hit the ball. Simple as that.”
Newport could only muster up one hit, a two-out, first-inning single
by Taylor Young against Los Alamitos starter Jason Schnitzer.
Schnitzer used his nearly 6-foot frame to his advantage and struck out
seven over six innings and walked only two. Reliever Tim Owens pitched a
scoreless and hitless inning with one strikeout.
“Jason, I’ve been told, has reached 80 mph, but I don’t think he was
blowing that much gas tonight,” Coach Young said. “One thing about him,
however, is that he threw harder as the game went on. He rarely went to
his offspeed stuff until he was ahead in the count.”
Newport pitcher Kevin Courvoisier wasn’t too shabby either. He pitched
a complete game and allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits. He
walked two and struck out four.
“The key to Kevin’s success is that he throws strikes and gets ahead
in the count all the time,” Coach Young said. “His fastball is good, his
curveball is good and his change-up is good. He’s got great command of
the plate and he showed that tonight.”
Los Alamitos got on the board first when John Hale hit a ball off his
shoe tops for a bloop double.
Hale advanced to third on a fisted single by Max Foltz and scored on a
dropped fly ball by the Newport left-fielder, who redeemed himself by
hustling after the ball and hitting shortstop Kurt Yacko with a good
relay throw. Yacko then managed to nail the Los Alamitos runner trying to
advance to third, keeping further damage from taking place.
Again, Los Al threatened in the fourth inning with runners on first
and third with nobody out, but catcher Greg Miner came up with the big
defensive play.
After a third strike, Miner popped up from his croutch and fired a
bullet down to third, catching the runner too far off the bag. Third
baseman Matt Erickson ran down the runner and tagged him out for a double
play. Courvoisier retired the next batter and the score remained, 1-0.
Newport’s defense wasn’t quite as strong in the fifth as two errors
helped lead to two unearned runs.
“That really took the air out of our sail,” Coach Young said. “If it’s
still 1-0, it’s still anyone’s game, but 3-0, the way Schnitzer was
pitching, was real tough to come back from.
Los Al added an insurance run in the sixth when Jason Schanel singled,
stole second, stole third and scored on a wild pitch.
Newport managed to put two runners on base in the sixth when Luis
Rodriguez reached on an error and Kenny Knight was hit by a pitch, but
neither could advance further.
Newport will play in the District 1 Tournament beginning July 20 at
Placentia, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The later-than-average start of the tournament will leave Newport
without Courvoisier, who will have to leave the team due to a prior
commitment.
“He’s a big piece to our puzzle, but we’ve still got some pretty good
arms on this team,” Coach Young. “We’ve just got to find the right
combination and find pitchers who can consistently throw strikes.”
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