Bronco A unit bucks back, 8-5

LOS ALAMITOS ? A long day of baseball Saturday became yet another opportunity to display the longing for success that has clearly spread through the dugout of the Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. Bronco A All-Stars.

Manager Tony Swies’ team of 11- and 12-year-olds seemed largely disinterested in the first three innings of its second game Saturday.

After rallying to claim a 9-5 triumph over Tustin in a morning pool-play opener at the Dana Point Summer Classic, Newport Harbor trekked more than 50 miles to face Fountain Valley A in the afternoon pool-play finale of the Los Alamitos Invitational at the Los Alamitos Pony fields.

Adding to the lack of urgency, Newport Harbor had won its first four games in the Los Alamitos tournament, which had clinched a berth in Wednesday’s 5 p.m. Pool A title game.

Swies said before the game he would rest his premier pitchers, allowing others to take the mound against a Fountain Valley team that entered 2-1 in the tournament.

The first three innings seemed to unfold accordingly as Fountain Valley seized a 5-0 lead, while holding a largely listless Newport Harbor lineup without a hit.

But perhaps responding to a Fountain Valley acusation that Newport Harbor had batted out of order, the locals came to life in the bottom of the fourth.

Jake Stowell and Brett Parker opened the Newport fourth with consecutive singles. After Parker was thrown out at second trying to steal, Matt Carpenter belted a single off the left-center-field fence to put the designated home team on the scoreboard.

After Nick McCann followed with a single, Fountain Valley coaches pointed out that McCann, who wears No. 25, had been listed as No. 27 on the lineup. A.J. Swies, who follows McCann in the order, was listed on the original lineup card as No. 25.

After a brief discussion, during which Tony Swies admitted he made the clerical error, the home-plate umpire ruled since the names in the order were correct, there would be no penalty for Newport Harbor.

With cheering suddenly coming from the Newport Harbor dugout, as well as the team’s supporters in the stands, A.J. Swies bounced a two-run single through the left side to pull Newport Harbor within 5-3.

That’s where it remained until the Newport sixth, when Ethan Cochran was hit by a pitch to lead off the frame and Daniel Albert lined a single over the shortstop to put runners on first and second.

Stowell followed with a would-be sacrifice bunt that rolled past the pitcher for a single, loading the bases.

Parker hit a fly ball over the center fielder’s head that wound up being only a single, trimming the deficit to 5-4.

With the game on the line, Fountain Valley brought in hard-throwing right-hander Marco Nunez to try and protect the lead.

Carpenter, who barely fouled off two pitches he appeared to swing late on, was down in the count, 1-2, before Nunez delivered a high fastball. Carpenter tomahawked it over the center-field fence for a grand slam and an 8-5 lead.

The lead held up in the seventh, as Tyler Kiehnle, who came on in relief in the fourth, worked his fourth scoreless inning to earn the win.

Kiehnle allowed three hits and did not walk a batter.

Carpenter, who has three homers in six all-star games, all wins for Newport Harbor, said his fifth homer of the season was “a great feeling.”

Tony Swies, also the team’s third-base coach, exhorted Carpenter during the fateful at-bat, telling him “There’s no one I’d rather have up right now than you.”

Tony Swies was even more complimentary after the game.

“[Matt] is an 11-year-old, making him one of the youngest players on our team. But he’s extremely gifted. He’s one of the most gifted 11-year-olds I’ve seen. If we need a bit hit, he’s one of the guys who’ve come through.”

The Newport Harbor Manager, however, said his roster is full of postseason heroes.

“This team has surprised me,” he said. “We have a lot of talent, but we have great chemistry. Everyone has contributed.”

In addition to Carpenter, who was two for three with five RBIs, Parker and Stowell had two hits.

Vince Aqueveque added to Newport Harbor’s 10 hits in its final three innings.

Tony Swies said McCann and A.J. Swies, who combined to one-hit Los Alamitos in a 6-1 victory Wednesday, would share pitching duties in Wednesday’s final.

Newport Habor will meet either Los Alamitos or Fountain Valley in the final, based on today’s results.