Home runs doom locals

DANA POINT — While the twilight summer ocean breezes sent a handful of Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. parents back to their cars to retrieve jackets, the Bronco A Division All-Stars from St. Hedwig proved they were more than comfortable with a little left-handed heat.

The NHBA starting pitcher, a strong lefty, saw three of his above-average fastballs disappear over the outfield fence in the round-robin finale, a night game in the Dana Hills Summer Classic at Del Obispo Park. The result was a big early lead that St. Hedwig never relinquished on its way to an 8-7 victory.

The win put St. Hedwig, based in Los Alamitos, into the division championship game Saturday at 1 p.m.

Newport Harbor, which had the potential tying run on first in its final at-bat, moves to the third-place game, Friday at 5:45 p.m.

St. Hedwig, which like Newport Harbor entered the game 1-1 in tournament play, hit four homers in all, including back-to-back shots in the opening inning by Gianni Castillo and Chad Benfanti, to build leads of 6-1 and 8-3.

Benfanti led off the third with another bomb to center field, almost in the identical spot his first homer cleared the fence, against the NHBA starting pitcher.

After the first of two NHBA relievers took the mound, Evan Giacomini launched a two-run dinger to center field to finalize St. Hedwig’s scoring in the fifth.

The first four St. Hedwig runs scored with two outs and three Newport Harbor errors contributed to three unearned runs by the winners.

But Newport Harbor, which was out-hit, 13-9, rallied back with the help of five St. Hedwig errors.

A misplay by an outfielder on a single to center by Garrett Prather allowed NHBA’s first run to score, as TK (the full name the NHBA catcher goes by), who had singled with two outs to start the uprising, sprinted home from first on the two-base error.

Singles by Ryan Taormina and Nick Sargeant, combined with two St. Hedwig errors, gave Newport Harbor its second run in the third.

Prather grounded to second to plate Blake Pender with the third NHBA run in the fourth. Pender had doubled to lead off the inning to chase St. Hedwig starter Jake Yarger. Pender then advanced to third on a wild pitch.

Jake Norton sparked a two-run NHBA uprising by singling to lead off the fifth. Sean Cox followed by reaching on an infield error and, after a strikeout, Taormina doubled to right-center field to drive in Norton. Sargeant followed with a run-scoring groundout to pull NHBA, the designated home team, within 8-5.

With NHBA relievers Baron Schwarz (one run in two innings) and Cox (a scoreless seventh) putting a damper on St. Hedwig’s hankering for homers, Prather began a seventh-inning rally by reaching on an error.

Two strikeouts followed, the second of which got away from the catcher, who threw to first to retire the runner, but allowed Prather to score from second as he beat the return throw to the plate.

Cox then lashed a single up the middle and reached second on a wild pitch. Schwarz also lined a single through the middle of the infield to score Cox. But St. Hedwig reliever Ryan Kaufman got the final out with a strikeout, his fourth in two innings.

Taormina paced the NHBA offense with two hits in four at-bats, and Sargeant was one for two. No other NHBA hitter could do better than one for three.

TK, who played the whole game behind the plate, a rarity in Pony baseball rules, which allow players to switch positions every inning, coming in and out of the game while every player continues to hit in a rotating batting order, sparkled on defense for NHBA. He threw out two runners trying to steal second, both in the sixth inning.

Benfanti led the winners by going three for three with a walk. Three other St. Hedwig players had two hits apiece.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.