For the first time in 21 years, the Heartwell PONY squad of 14s All Stars is heading to Washington, Pennsylvania for the PONY World Series. The squad out of Long Beach’s Heartwell Park won the West Zone Tournament last week and is now one of 10 teams remaining heading to the World Series, out of 5,500 PONY all-star teams.
In a statement, manager Matt Paige said, “I’ve been coaching players for over 30 years from little league to high school and this team is clearly filled with talent and tenacity. We look forward to meeting and competing against the teams worldwide at the biggest PONY stage.
The Heartwell boys made it out of a West Zone Tournament with the best teams from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
The Heartwell All-Stars team consists of Jacob Isaiah Brown, Anthony James Carrillo, Jefferson Yoshinori Cowles, Lucas Kapuali Ferguson, Ty Cash Gallo, Diego Antonio Gonzalez, Edgar Clarence Green IV, Marc Ethan James, Alán Mora Machado, Jordan Luke Rivers, David Sanchez, Ismael Santillan, Nicolas David Seib, Trevor Anthony Torres and Jack Thomas Walsh.
The team is coached by Matt Paige with assistant coaches Matthew Paige, David Montano, and Cesar Penaflor.
The team will be in action at the PONY World Series from August 8 through August 14.
The team defeated Kauai 6-4 and Santa Cruz 8-3 to open the West Zone Tournament. After a loss to Hawaii, they came back and defeated them 7-3 to earn their way into the championship, where they defeated Sierra Madre 12-2 via mercy rule.
Ismael Santillan threw 4.1 innings and gave up just one run, with Ty Gallo coming in to close the game out. The team got multi-hit performances in the championship from Marc Ethan James, Santillan, Alan Machado, and Trevor Torres.If you want to support the team and help them get to the World Series donate here.
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