Pony League World Series field half-filled
The Pony League World Series field is filling up with five out of 10 teams already qualified for the annual tournament that begins Aug. 11 at lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park.
Washington County selected its team earlier in the summer. It is the host team and the roster is made up of 13 and 14 year olds from the Canon-McMillian, Burgettstown, Fort Cherry, Trinity and Washington school districts
Manager Anthony Wuenstel said the versatility of the team is their biggest asset.
“We have timely hitting, good defense, and solid pitching,” Wuenstel said. “We like to say that the pitching feeds the defense, the defense feeds the offense and the offense feeds the pitching. When all three are working in unison, we are hard to beat.”
Washington County teams have won two World Series titles in the tournament’s history. The first came when Monongahela took home the 1954 title and the second came the following year when the Washington hoisted the 1955 trophy.
Qualifying for the European Zone is Paderborn, Germany. The European representatives cruised through their zone championship tournament, outscoring opponents 88-4 to secure their bid.
Germany has been a participant in the Pony League World Series several times, with their last appearance in 2016. Manager Georg Friedrich Bull is expecting a great experience and a successful run from his squad.
“We were hoping to qualify and be able to participate in this prestigious and high-quality event in Washington, Pennsylvania. The boys are excited to play top competition in that beautiful Pony stadium,” said Friedrich Bull. “We are a tight group of players and coaches, team spirit is high, and we believe we have the pitching, fielding, and batting skills to compete.”
Paderborn will play Washington County in a nopening round game Saturday, Aug. 12.
The Mexico Zone will be represented by Monterrey, which was the runner-up in last year’s world series. Three players from that squad will be returning to this year’s series. Monterrey’s 13-year-old Pony team finished as the runner-up in the California-based tournament last year. Five players from that squad are on this year’s roster.
Business manager Enrique Hinojosa noted the team was as motivated as ever.
“Both teams lost the championship game so they are all very motivated to come back to try to win it all this year,” said Hinojosa. “We have great pitching, starters and relievers. Similar to last year, this is our strength.”
Monterrey has a long-standing history with PONY, asit was the first international team to ever play in a World Series in 1959. Its lone championship came in 1972.
For the first time in Pony League World Series history, Managua, Nicaragua, will be representing the Caribbean Zone.
Managua defeated the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ecuador and Chiriquí, Panama, before taking down Panama City 3-1 to win the Caribbean Zone.
Manager Rene Torres recognized that his team’s qualification will bolster the sport in Nicaragua.
“This is the first time a team from Nicaragua is participating in the World Series. We are looking forward to it and blessed,” said Torres. “This will open a lot of doors for Nicaragua PONY Baseball.”
The Asia-Pacific Zone will feature Edogawa, Japan. This marks the first time since 2017 that a team from somewhere other than Chinese Taipei won the Asia-Pacific Zone.
Manager Yutaka Furusawa credited Edogawa’s qualification over Chinese Taipei as a victory for team morale but also noted that this trip is more about the experience than game results.
“Being able to beat Chinese Taipei for the first time in about 10 years is very important. Most of the players are visiting the United States for the first time. We are looking forward to playing in the World Series of our dreams,” said Furusawa. “We want to fully experience America and enjoy baseball.”
The last time a team from Japan qualified for the series was in 2013, when Okinawa took home its lone title.
The 10-team bracket will be set in the coming weeks as the North, South and Host Area Zones qualify on July 30 and the East and West Zones qualify Aug. 6.
The Host Area tournament takes place in Mt. Lebanon beginning Thursday with 12 teams.
Pony League World Series The following five teams have qualified for the Pony League World Series that will be held Aug. 11-16 at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park: • Washington County • Paderborn, Germany • Edogawa, Japan • Monterrey, Mexico • Managua, Nicaragua
The following five teams have qualified for the Pony league World Series that will be held Aug. 11-16 at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington Park:
• Washington County
• Paderborn, Germany
• Edogawa, Japan
• Monterrey, Mexico
• Managua, Nicaragua