Long Beach grinds out win over the Bronx
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Long Beach’s Adam Cramer steals second base against the Bronx Sunday.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
The Bronx’s Julian Ventura slides into second base in front of Long Beach’s Ryan Bursck during Sunday’s Pony League World Series game at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
The Pittsburgh pierogie mascots, from left, Jalapeño Hannah, Sauerkraut Saul and Cheese Chester race down the field during Sunday’s Pony League World Series at Lew Hays Field in Washington Park.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Long Beach’s Robert Voss catches a fly ball against the Bronx during Sunday’s Pony League World Series game at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.
They provide the spark for Long Beach’s offensive explosions, and there might not be a better example of that than Sunday afternoon’s game at Lew Hays Pony Field.
The top three hitters in the California team’s lineup scored six runs, drove in four and did it on only two hits in an 8-0 victory over the Bronx in a winners’ bracket game of the Pony League World Series in Washington Park.
The victory moves Long Beach, the West Zone champion, into a game against Tijuana, Mexico at 8 p.m., tonight. The Bronx team, champion of the East Zone, plays an elimination game against either Brownsville or Washington at 12:30 p.m., this afternoon.
Long Beach, which along with Asia-Pacific Zone champion Chinese Taipei are considered the favorites to win the world series title, has been getting this type of production from the top of the lineup throughout the drive to the series.
“We really do have a tenacious way of playing,” said Long Beach manager Ken Jakemer. “Early on, we got people on and didn’t score. But you saw at the end how good we are at hitting the ball.”
Leadoff hitter Adam Cramer went 1-for-2, scored three times, drove in a run, walked and was hit by a pitch.
The No. 2 hitter Ryan Geck was 0-for-2, but don’t let that fool you. He walked once, scored twice and knocked in a run.
And the third hitter in the lineup, Bren Wilkinson, was 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run.
The rest of Long Beach’s lineup? Well, eight hitters went a combined 3-for-15 with two runs and two RBI.
“Our batting order is very solid and very deep,” Jakemer said. “Those three are the best hitters in our order. They have speed, they have power and they have great discipline. Our whole team has discipline. We took a lot of pitches out there and got a lot of walks. If we can get to their sixth or seventh pitcher, we’re going to be pretty good.”
The Bronx, coming off a wild, 15-13, first-game victory over Washington County Saturday afternoon, could not stop Long Beach with its assembly line pitching system.
The Bronx used nine pitchers to claw its way back from an early 8-3 deficit against Washington County and five against Long Beach.
The deep pitching staff walked eight Long Beach batters and hit three others. Maybe no better example of the Bronx’s woes existed than the third inning against Long Beach.
Cramer began the inning with a walk, then stole second base. An error on the play moved him to third and he scored on another error on a grounder by Geck. Wilkinson walked and came around to score on a balk.
When the inning was over, Long Beach led 4-0 and had just one hit.
“We saw (the Bronx) play and they looked tougher than we thought we’d see,” Jakemer said. “That’s not to discount who they were but we hadn’t seen them play before. We had to think twice how we were going to approach them.”
Four Long Beach pitchers allowed a combined three hits and struck out eight.