Newport Harbor starts PONY Bronco Super Region with rout

Reporting from Whittier —  After a 33-mile drive to Whittier’s York Field, most baseball teams would need a couple innings to get going.

Not the Newport Harbor Baseball Assn.

The 12-and-under All-Stars jumped all over Diamond Bar, racking up eight runs in the first two innings en route to a 13-3 mercy-rule victory in the first game of the PONY Bronco League Super Region tournament.

Newport Harbor earned its way into Sunday’s quarterfinal at 11.30 a.m. Newport Harbor will play the winner of the game between Toluca and San Diego Competitive.

“Our guys got to the Super Regionals last year as 11-year olds,” Newport Harbor coach Ryan Shea said. “We’re gunning for the next tournament. Anything less would be disappointing for them.”

The winner of the Super Region advances to the Western Zone Tournament — also in Whittier next week — and the winner of that goes to the PONY International World Series in Los Alamitos on Aug. 3.

After starting Newport Harbor pitcher Walker Vaicek rifled two strikeouts to end the top of the first, every batter got into the action.

Leadoff man Jack Davey walked, and then executed some vintage small ball. He stole second, and used a Dimitri Susidko groundout to advance to third base. Evan Hesse cleaned up with a run-scoring single to open the floodgates.

Outfielder Adam Martin cracked a double into the gap to drive home Bryson Shea and Hesse, extending the lead to 3-0.

Vaicek retired three in a row in only seven pitches, including his third strikeout, to set the stage for an explosive bottom of the second.

Jake Shubin and Parker Purcell walked, and the coaches inserted relief pitcher Maximus Ugalde. Davey returned to the plate, and took the first pitch to far-right field for a run-scoring double. Susidko singled in one more run, and Shea belted a two-run single to balloon the margin to 7-0.

Pinch-hitter Aiden Callahan tacked on one more to finish the inning at 8-0. The mercy rule is activated when the winning team leads by 10 after five innings.

Not looking to settle for a blowout, Diamond Bar responded the following inning. Diamond Bar smacked three straight singles off Purcell to load the bases, and hits by Jeremy Torres and Ugalde cut the deficit to 8-3.

Newport Harbor seized the momentum right back in the bottom of the third, as Brock Liolios zipped a double over the center fielder. He later scored off a wild pitch for the ninth run.

Neither team mustered a run in the fourth, as Susidko threw out consecutive runners to end the inning. His performance at the plate shined even brighter.

He ripped a pitch nearly over the 250-foot center-field wall, only for it to fall just short. As the outfield scrambled, he glided around the bases, finally sliding under the catcher’s glove for an inside-the-park homer.

“I’ve done that a few times before,” Susidko said. “I wasn’t happy with the way I hit earlier in the game, so I took some advice from coach, adjusted my stance and got under the pitch.”

He finished two for four with two runs batted in. His teammates finished the job to force the mercy, as Shea, Martin and Cruz Collier tallied runs for the final margin.

“I’m just happy that we’re closer to our goals,” Susidko said. “Our team is really connected, and we have a common purpose.”

Coach Shea warned that despite some more maturity, the team has some distractions.

“We would be way better if they played less Fortnite,” Shea said. “What [are] you going to do?”

SAM DODGE is a contributor to Times Community News. Follow him on Twitter: @samgododge