WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Long Beach scored three runs in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 deadlock and hand the Kaua‘i Protect Our Nation’s Youth All-Stars a 4-1 loss Saturday at the PONY Zone baseball tournament in Watsonville, Calif. Patrick
WATSONVILLE, Calif. — Long Beach scored three runs in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 deadlock and hand the Kaua‘i Protect Our Nation’s Youth All-Stars a 4-1 loss Saturday at the PONY Zone baseball tournament in Watsonville, Calif.
Patrick Keamoai Strickland, starting on the mound and going five innings, suffered the loss, with Cal Koga coming in for relief in the sixth inning.
Koga picked up the win for the Kaua‘i PONY All-Stars Friday when the team coached by Milton Koga opened the tournament with a 14-2 win over Bellingham Post 7 of Washington state.
The five-inning game — shortened by the 10-run ruling, was in Kaua‘i’s favor from the onset, with the Kaua‘i boys building a 9-2 lead following the first inning and increasing the margin to 12-2 after three complete innings.
Koga, started on the mound in the Friday game and threw for three innings when Tyler Toyofuku came into the game for the fourth and fifth innings.
Long Beach, opened with a 13-2 win against Santa Cruz before picking up its second win with the 4-1 win over Kaua‘i Saturday.
With the loss, Kaua‘i PONY All-Stars enters the loser’s bracket, facing off against Arizona starting at noon today, Pacific Standard Time in the eight-team double-elimination tournament.
The winner of the PONY Zone tournament advances directly to the PONY World Series in Pennsylvania.
