Newport PONY faces must-win game after loss to Irvine in regional title game

IRVINE – No one is saying that these teams have aged many years, but the benefits of growing together are quite substantial.

Brent Overfelt, the head coach of the Newport Beach PONY 10-year-old All-Stars, frequently refers to big moments for his team as opportunities to “build boys.”

They have seen action in the district championship game, and they followed that up by reaching the regional title game, too.

The deeper that Newport Beach got into the tournament, the higher the chances were that it was going to run into a formidable opponent.

The Newport Beach PONY All-Stars knew exactly who they were facing on Sunday afternoon in the Central Region championship game. Even the parents spoke about the elite level of the Irvine All-Stars.

Several of the players on the teams have played together for years, and in the case of Irvine, that comes with a boatload of experience. This Irvine PONY team won the West Zone World Series in back-to-back seasons as 7- and 8-year-olds.

Seven players in the starting lineup – Logan Honikel, Evan Tamayo, Jagger Snitko, Cole Weinstein, Zachary Ireland, Anthony DeMarco, and Luke Weston – were on the last World Series team.

The Irvine All-Stars took care of business, dismissing Newport, 11-0, to advance to the Super Regional.

“It’s nice,” Irvine manager Doug Ireland said of the win. “We’ve been working hard all season. This is a team that has been together for a while. We had a goal in mind at the beginning of the season, which was to get through this thing and try to get to the World Series again.”

Irvine struck for 12 hits against Newport Beach starter Brady Gadol, who had trouble securing the final out in either inning he pitched. Camden Clewett and DeMarco had two-out RBIs in the first to make it 2-0.

Gadol left the mound in the second after five straight batters had reached and four runs had scored with two outs.

Clewett went three for three with four RBIs. Jack Zerkel, Weinstein, Ireland, and DeMarco also had multi-hit games for Irvine.

Ryan Rakunas notched the only hit for Newport, a single to left leading off the second.

Newport Beach will still have a chance to join Irvine. The winner of Monday’s runner-up game against Olive PONY will advance to the Super Regional as the Central Region’s second seed. First pitch is Monday at 5 p.m.

“They want to keep playing,” Overfelt said. “They’re having fun. Even though they lost, they like being here together. They still have a chance to advance and at being one of the elite teams in Southern California. That’s kind of cool for them.”

Olive defeated Newport Beach, 4-0, in the teams’ only meeting of the summer, which came in the district championship game.

Newport Beach defeated La Mirada, 7-6, and Placentia Diamond, 14-8, to reach the final.

Ganon Overfelt had two hits, two runs scored, and two RBIs against La Mirada. Miles Pluma picked up the win in that game.

Gadol was the winning pitcher against Placentia Diamond, with Jackson McDonald and Gadol both recording three hits in the contest.

Andrew.Turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner