Aug 15, 2022 4 min read

Drew Irons was “Ironman” – or “Ironsman” – for Johnstown Monday night at Lew Hays Pony Field.

He pitched 6 2/3 innings – one out shy of a complete game – hit a home run and led his team to a 4-2 win over Asia-Pacific Zone champion New Taipei City in Game 11 of the Pony League World Series.

Irons channeled his inner Shohei Ohtani, and his manager, Bugsy Roberts, wasn’t surprised.

“Drew’s a gamer,” Roberts said. “That’s why he pitched this game. I had faith in Drew from the beginning of the game. I knew he would give me this kind of performance.”

Irons credited his success to his two best pitches – his curveball and fastball – being on point.

Irons finished the day allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits, walking two and striking out three.

“Drew lives around the strike zone,” Roberts said. “He lives low, he lives in the strike zone. He makes batters beat him.”

Johnstown, the Host Area team, made a statement in a big way thanks to its first batter, Dante LaRocco.

LaRocco drove a 3-2 pitch deep to left field. The ball tucked just inside the foul pole for a home run that gave Johnstown a 1-0 lead.

Johnstown doubled its lead in the bottom of the third when a single by Brock Bryson scored Charlie Manzi to make it 2-0.

Johnstown added another in the bottom of the fourth on Irons’ solo home run that hit the right-field foul pole. The homer surprised Irons for a couple of reasons.

“I thought it was going to go foul,” Irons said, “so I was just jogging down to first. And then it bounced off the foul pole, so I’m like ‘OK, I guess it’s fair, then.’

“I was pretty surprised that it hit the foul pole because I had never done that in my life.”

Bryson drove in his second run of the night in the bottom of the fifth, scoring LaRocco with a single.

Taipei broke the shutout in its last at-bat when Sun Kai-You scored on an error. It added another later in the inning on a two-out single by Wei Zhe-Hong that brought home Chiu Sheng-Hung Gao.

Irons left the game with two outs and 98 pitches – three above the limit of 95. But Eric McAllister got the last out, and Johnstown finished off the win.

Next up for Johnstown is the winner of the Taipei-Bay County, Mich., game scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday. Johnstown will be back on the field at 5:30 p.m.

Taipei’s manager declined to comment after the game.

For Roberts, the key to Johnstown keeping its momentum is simple: pitching.

He’s confident that big things could be ahead.

“We have a really good team. I think we’re going to do something here,” he said.

Monterrey, 10-4

Monterrey, 10-4

In Monday night’s last game, Monterrey, champion of the Mexico Zone, defeated South Zone champion Palmview, Texas, 10-4.

Isreal Herrera was the winning pitcher, giving up four runs — all unearned — on three hits, walking two and striking out 10.

Monterrey scored first in the top of the first when leadoff man Diego Alvarado scored on an error. Mexico added on in the top of the fourth on a two-run homer by Miguel Alejandro Jr. In the fifth, Mexico virtually put the game to bed with six runs.

Palmview picked up four runs in its half of the fifth, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Monterrey will take on the winner of Tuesday’s 12:30 game between Palmview and Washington County. If Palmview loses, it’s tournament is over.