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.”