NHBA Bronco B blanks St. Hedwig

Steve Virgen

The Newport Harbor Baseball Association Bronco B All-Stars displayed

enthusiasm in each inning. They also showed camaraderie, as they

encouraged one another.

In the end, they were celebrating a 10-0 mercy-rule victory, their

first shutout of the nine games this season. The NHBA All-Stars, who

had 3-for-3 performances by Kyle Cablay, Jason Harris and Chris

Gowdy, defeated St. Hedwig of Los Alamitos in five innings in the

Dana Point Summer Classic at Del Obispo Field Saturday.

Pitchers Austin Rios and Harris combined for the shutout.

“They all play together real well,” NHBA Manager Brian Gurnee

said. “There are no heroes on this team, no guy that totally stands

out. They know that and they just play as a team. They all get

along.”

Rios struck out three and allowed only two hits in his three

innings of work, while Harris recorded two strikeouts and scattered

just two hits in the final two innings.

The NHBA Bronco B All-Stars were also dominant with their bats,

finishing with 14 hits. They scored one run in the first, four in the

third, two in the fourth and ended the game with three runs in the

fifth.

Harris and Connor Curry also contributed two RBIs. Gowdy and

Grayson Gurnee had one RBI each. Dylon Gravelle, who had a double in

the first, scored two runs, as did Cablay. Austin Bagby, who singled,

scored once and had two stolen bases.

Harris crossed the plate on a single by Gowdy to cap the scoring.

Bagby, Cablay and Harris each stole a base in the fifth. Bagby

reached on a catcher’s interference, while Cablay and Harris both

singled. Cablay’s base hit brought home Bagby. Cablay later scored on

a passed ball.

“The last game we played, we had something like 10 baserunning

errors [in a 7-5 loss Monday],” Brian Gurnee said. “But we improved

[Saturday]. We had good pitching and good defense. And, we hit the

ball real well.”