SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Sunnyside Little League coach Francisco Rivero had faith his team would play better than they had in Monday’s extra-innings loss to Hawaii.
Other than having the opening batter reach base when a routine fly ball was dropped, he need not have worried. Sunnyside defeated Paseo Verde, the Nevada representative, 13-1 on Tuesday afternoon in a game limited to five innings by the Little League mercy rule.
Sunnyside will play Southern California on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Paseo Verde suffered its second loss and was eliminated from the tournament.
If Sunnyside wins Wednesday, it would play in Friday night’s semifinal game. That game will determine which team plays in the final.
“I’m happy everybody showed up and did what we have since we began,” Rivero said. “I expect the nervousness to disappear and that we will play like we play at home.”
Sunnyside was excellent in offense, defense and pitching.
Damian Lorta, who had three hits, led off the fifth inning with a home run . It was the second home run of the tournament for Lorta, whose favorite players are Francisco Lindor and Mookie Betts.
“After the game against Hawaii, I wanted to get the team pumped up,” Lorta said.
Izaiah Moraga hit a three-run homer with two out in the top of the first to stake Sunnyside to a 3-0 advantage. Juan Hernandez drove home a fourth run with a bloop single to right.
“The pitch was in Zone 6,” Moraga said, describing the outer part of the strike zone. “I got that from the location chart on the MLB video game.”
Sunnyside compiled 16 hits, getting five runs in the fourth inning and adding three more runs in the fifth inning. Rivero said Monday he wanted his team to be more aggressive, and the team followed that request to the letter.
After the opening miscue, the team made no errors and turned double plays in the first and third innings. With the top two pitchers, Loria and Hernandez, ineligible to pitch, Juan Abril pitched very effectively.
While only two strikeouts might seem unimpressive, he allowed only three hits and didn’t walk an opposing batter. He needed only 46 pitches, and a remarkable 84.8% of them went for strikes.
“I was happy to pitch and wanted to help the team out,” said Abril, who is the youngest of six children. His favorite player is Jose Altuve.
The hardest-hit ball against Abril was a line drive that he caught on the mound. The catch amazed his teammates.
For most managers, having three pitchers ineligible because of pitch limits might cause concern. Not Sunnyside.
“I keep saying we have a lot of pitching left,” Rivero said.
Moraga will start Wednesday night’s game.
“I want to keep the pitch count low and get my defense to help me,” said Moraga. “I was struggling with hitting recently, and I want to get back to where I was before.”
Sunnyside scored five runs in the fourth inning when seven consecutive batters reached . Miguel Siqueiros and Lorta singled with one out. Catcher Jordan Mayboca doubled Siqueiros home, and Moraga scored Lorta with an infield single.
Jorge Zazueta reached on an error that allowed Mayboca to score. Zazueta scored on Aciel Guillen’s single to complete the five-run rally.
