Cole Bratten works on his hitting at Pasadena's 3K batting cages two days before the team left for Louisiana and the South Zone Tournament.

Cole Bratten works on his hitting at Pasadena's 3K batting cages two days before the team left for Louisiana and the South Zone Tournament.

NASA-Orange 14s foiled by World Series-bound Brownsville at Zone

YOUNGSVILLE, La. - The NASA-Orange Pony 14-year-old all-stars made a gallant run towards a World Series berth, but the team fell three victories shy of the prize Saturday afternoon.

Once again, a team from the Rio Grande Valley proved too much for the Houston-area squads as Brownsville defeated NASA-Orange twice in the four-day tournament. With three victories in their opening four contests, NASA-Orange earned a berth in the National Bracket championship game Saturday only to absorb a 12-2 defeat.

It was just the day before that NASA-Orange overcame a 5-0 deficit to the same Brownsville team, scoring two runs in the third, four in the second and two in fifth to nab an 8-6 lead. Just six outs away from jumping in the National Bracket driver's seat, Brownsville scored four in the sixth and one in the seventh to collect an 11-8 win.

Brownsville went on to capture the South Zone championship, following a tense 2-1 victory over American Bracket champion Laredo Sunday afternoon. Laredo was forced to the IF game Sunday morning with Crowley, La. Laredo won that match-up 14-1.

NASA-Orange, attempting to become the second NASA-Pony League representative over the last three summers to clinch a World Series berth, was deadlocked with Brownsville 1-1 after one inning in the second meeting, but that's when Brownsville scored three in the home half of the second and six in the third to seal the deal.

Jorge Lozano was the starting and winning pitcher, while Henry Hill suffered the loss, lasting just 2.1 innings in which he gave up nine earned runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Luke Olson and Cole Bratten had the only NASA-Orange hits.

NASA-Orange departed the tournament starting gates like gangbusters. They walloped the Gregory-Portland All-Stars 17-0 Wednesday night, before doing the same to Arnaudville, La. 13-3 Thursday night.

In the Gregory-Portland game, NASA-Orange scored six in the second, four in the third and seven in the fourth. Anthony Benavides shattered a NASA Pony League record when he belted a pair of home runs in driving in eight RBIs on a 3-for-3 effort at the plate, scoring three runs. But those would be Benavides' only RBIs of the entire tournament.

Simon Binetti went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Logan Moore and Christian Whitehead each enjoyed 2-for-2 games. Moore homered, driving in two RBIs and scored twice as did Whitehead. Olson co-led the team in runs scored with three thanks in part to a double he clouted.

Manager Scooter Moore had the green light on in the stolen base department as the guys swiped 10 bases, three by Benavides, two by Olson and two by Binetti.

Carson Wagner was the starting and winning pitcher, while Bratten and Adam Boyes mopped up. The three combined for nine strikeouts. Rob Spencer absorbed the loss.

Against Arnaudville, NASA-Orange was trailing 3-2 when the team scored four runs in the third to go with two in the fifth and four in the sixth.

The team made Arnaudville pay for a whopping 10 errors, possibly a South Zone record. Hill and Anthony Hall each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Whitehead, Benavides, Jacob Martinez, Logan Moore, Hill and Olson combined to score the 12 runs. The team found nine hit off two Arnaudville pitchers and four of them were doubles. Whitehead, Benavides, Hill and Olson tallied the two-baggers.

On the mound, Hall, Hill, Boyes, Bratten and Benavides combined for 16 strikeouts and just five free passes.

In the gut-wrenching first defeat to Brownsville, the four, five and six-hole hitters for NASA-Orange went 5-for-11 with six RBIs and four runs scored. Moore went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, while Hill and Olson drove in one.

Pitching-wise, Benavides, Olson, Wagner and Martinez combined for 11 strikeouts and eight earned runs.

The defense didn't help the pitching, suffering its worst game of the tournament in committing five errors.

Of Brownsville's 11 runs, 10 were scored by the first five batters. Leadoff hitter Darren Ramirez scored three times and three-hole hitter Javier Hinojosa did the same.

Hard to imagine that two neighborly Pony baseball programs would meet on a ballfield almost 200 miles away but that's what happened Saturday morning. NASA-Orange stayed alive by eliminating Deer Park. Deer Park, riding a three-game winning streak after losing on opening night to Brownsville 10-0, came out on the short end to a 5-2 score.

NASA-Orange avenged a Coast Region defeat to this same Deer Park squad last month by scoring two in the third and three in the fifth, erasing a 1-0 deficit.

Six stolen bases and seven Deer Park errors paved the way for the revengeful win. Olson drove in two RBIs and Moore one. A pair of Rudy Fuentes solo homers provided Deer Park's only runs. Davis, in relief of Wagner, was the winning pitcher. Caleb Cox took the defeat, surrendering all five runs but just two were earned.

All-in-all, it was a very good effort by the two Coast Region representatives in the North Bracket. Only three of the eight teams finished with winning records and two of the three were NASA-Orange (3-2) and Deer Park (3-2). The other being World Series-bound Brownsville.

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NASA-Orange 14s foiled by World Series-bound Brownsville at Zone - Chron.com