Irvine Pony Bronco 12-and-under team moves on to regional tourney in Placentia

Irvine players thank their fans following a game in the district tournament in Long Beach. (Photos courtesy Hisashi Kato).

Irvine Pony Bronco’s 12-and-under baseball team, after finishing as the runner-up in the East Long Beach District tournament, opens the regional tournament Wednesday night, facing Fountain Valley at 5 p.m. at the Placentia Champions Sports Complex.

The tournament runs through Monday.

To see additional photos, click on the first picture:

Irvine's Rory Carpenter makes the defensive play for an out.

Irvine's Holim Rho is congratulated by teammates after a walk-off single.

Irvine's Akash Basu delivers a pitch vs. Los Alamitos.

Irvine players and coaches with their medals for advancing on to the next tournament.

Irvine reached the finals of the district tournament before losing to East Long Beach and was able to qualify for the regional by virtue of its top two finish.

“The biggest highlight was the team winning three straight elimination games to advance over a two day period,” said Manager Scott Carpenter.

Irvine defeated Santa Ana 5-0 to start the district tourney as Hayden McMillan pitched five shutout innings and Ryusei Ishida went 3 for 4.

“The second win was the best, a walk-off win vs Olive and coming back from and 8 to 11 deficit and winning 12-11,” Carpenter said. “The pitchers were Luca Wang and Lloyden Jeon. The winning hit was delivered by Holim Rho, who drove in Hayden McMillan for the win.”

Other top players were Seolim Rho who was 4 for 4; Ryusei Ishida, 2 for 5; Steven Valdez, 3 for 4, home run; and Rory Carpenter, 1 for 2.

“The third win was an impressive win over Los Alamitos and the pitcher was Akash Basu throwing 5 2/3 innings to lead the team,” Carpenter said. “Offensively, everyone played a huge role in the win with Luca Wang going 2 for 2, Shun Kato 1 for 3 and Ryusei Ishida 2 for 4.”

The team includes: Akash Basu, Dylan Carpenter, Rory Carpenter, Luca Wang, Shun Kato, Lloyden Jeon, Steven Valdez, Jr., Ryusei Ishida, Holim Rho, Seolim Rho, Ben Barba, Hayden McMillan and Noah Gorski.

Assistant coaches are Steven Valdez, Sr., Greg Miller and Chase Jeon.

The team is led offensively by Steven Valdez, Jr. (seven homers), Jeon, McMillan and Ishida.

“Pitching-wise, we have several strong pitchers including Akash Basu, Steven Valdez, Jr, Holim Rho, Lloyden Jeon, Rory Carpenter, Shun Kato and Luca Wang,” Scott Carpenter said.

“However, this is a hard working team that stays in games, keeps them close and works hard to create opportunities.  This is the best team I’ve ever coached with everyone being a huge contributor.”

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