Placentia Pony Bronco 12-and-under team wins super regional, Olive also advances to zone

Placentia Punishers holds the super regional banner after Monday’s victory in the championship game. (Photos courtesy Placentia Pony Bronco).

Placentia Pony Bronco’s 12-and-under squad completed an undefeated run at the super regional tournament, defeating North City from San Diego 8-1 in the championship game Monday night in Corona.

Placentia moves on to the West Zone finals Thursday night in Moreno Valley as Southern California’s top seed, according to Manager Nick Nunnari.

To see additional photos, click on the first picture:

Players from Placentia (left) and North City gather for post-game awards Monday.

Placentia players hold the super regional championship banner.

Placentia will face the No. 3 team from the Southern California regional (either Olive Orange or North City) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Morrison Sports Park in Moreno Valley. There are two other teams from Southern California: Olive Orange and North City. Other teams are Fairbanks (Alaska), Pacifica Grove, Calif., Loomis, Calif. and Maui.

Olive Orange qualified for zone with two wins on Monday. Olive defeated Ramona 19-7 and Torrance 8-7. The team faces North City Tuesday at 5 p.m. to determine the No. 2 team from Southern California. The losing team advances as the No. 3 team.

“It was an epic game yesterday after a Sunday epic game (vs.) Placentia,” said Olive Manager Shea Shandra. “We have a game tonight to determine what seeding we will have in zone.”

(Check back later for an update on Tuesday’s game.)

The zone tournament runs through Sunday.

Placentia was led by winning pitcher Tyler DaRosa Monday night in the championship game in Corona. He pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run. Beckham Mahoney and Finn Knapp came in relief and allowed no hits over the final 3 2/3 innings, according to Nunnari.

Oliver Rojas, Jeremiah Peterson and Tyler Erwin each had two hits each and Jack Nunnari had a double that drove in two runs for the Punishers.

“Our pitching and defense were lights out tonight, led by our starting pitcher Ty DaRosa,” Nunnari said. “Beck and Finn came in and threw great and our infield did a great job behind them. Adrian Rosales had two huge plays for us at third base tonight. We’re excited to win super regions and can’t wait to get out to Moreno Valley for zones.”

Placentia advanced to Monday’s finals with a 3-2 victory over Olive on Sunday. Placentia also defeated West Covina 15-0 and Santa Ynez 12-6.

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