The Long Beach PONY 14U All-Stars have been absolutely dominating their competition this month. They’ve outscored their eight opponents 104-15 while winning the District and Central Region tournaments.
“We have a powerhouse of a squad that is the deepest in my memory,” PONY president and manager Ken Jakemer said. “We’ve got great pitching, tremendous defense, and an unyielding offense that can be downright frightening.”
These 14U All-Stars hosted the Central Regionals last week and beat Costa Mesa 14-4 in the championship game at Whaley Park. CLICK HERE to see a full photo gallery from the game.
With a team batting average of .446 and team ERA of 1.34 it’s easy to see why Long Beach PONY has been so good. They’ve hit seven home runs and struck out 57 batters in 47 innings. Long Beach has also been a terror on the base paths with 24 stolen bases and a .857 steal percentage.
Jakemer said that an influx of talent from a local travel team that broke up has bolstered the ranks.
“Returning players were also granted a second year as a 13 or 14-year-old after a PONY league age change before the season,” he said. “That lifted the talent pool up quite a bit, and we had a good group of returning players.”
Brody Beck and Nixon Hunt have been leading the offensive charge with a combined 14 RBI and batting averages over .600 in the two tournaments. Garrett McCloud and Dylan Cappell have been phenomenal up the middle defensively, while catchers Connor Cassidy and Anton Romo have handled 10 different pitchers.
Next up for the Long Beach PONY 14U All-Stars is the Super-Region tournament in Simi Valley. The first game is Friday (July 28) against Santa Monica at 1 p.m.
ROSTER: Long Beach PONY 14U All-Stars
Drew Asenas, Brody Beck, Austin Brett, Dylan Cappell, Connor Cassidy, Quintin Ekstrom, Nixon Hunt, Aidan Kautsky, Will McCullough, Garrett McLeod, Diego Ritson, Anton Romo, Matt Schaeffer, Will Trunnelle, Jake Wells. Manager Ken Jakemer. Coaches Darrel Icenogle, Jeff Evans, Matt Heavin, Sean Pettway, Dan Ornelas
