Baseball: NHBA sees run halted

The Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. 10-and-under Mustang All-Stars won their first game, then lost twice and were eliminated on Sunday from the West Zone Southern California Super Region tournament in San Marcos.

NHBA opened the tournament with a 13-4 win over Whittier on July 22.

NHBA found itself behind, 4-0, entering the bottom of the second inning, but bounced back to cut the deficit to 4-2 at the end of two innings.

NHBA scored five in the third inning, four in the fourth and two in the fifth to win going away.

Relief pitcher Parker Purcell took over for starting pitcher, Bryson Shea, who worked the first three inning, and Purcell blanked Whittier the final three innings.

Riggs Guy continued his impressive postseason play by producing four hits and scoring four runs.

Shea, Purcell and Brock Liolis contributed two hits each, while Johnny Elliott had a key double to drive in two runs and Walker Vaicek continued his strong production from the leadoff spot.

On July 23, NHBA fell to Newbury Park, 11-1, to drop into the elimination bracket.

On Sunday, NHBA was edged by Fontana, 6-5.

Shea started on the mound and pitched three strong innings of one-run ball. NHBA opened up a 5-2 lead in top of the fifth inning, but gave up four runs in the bottom of the inning to surrender the lead.

Guy continued his offensive showcase with three more hits while Liolis added two.

“It was an amazing journey from start to finish,” NHBA Manager Ryan Shea said. “[Assistant] coaches, Justin Vaicek and Chris Purcell, and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of kids that showed up every day for practice and games. They gave it their all. It was 27 games in two months; that’s a daunting task. We went 21-6. We are proud of every single team member and all they accomplished.”

— Reader submission

— Reader submission