Irvine players after winning a doubleheader Sunday at Harvard Park. (PHOTOS: Adam Kunin, For OC Sports Zone).
After losing its opening round game to Placentia Orange in the Pony Bronco 11-and-under regional tournament, Irvine has finished its long trek through the elimination bracket and earned a spot in the championship game Monday at Harvard Park.
On Sunday, the squad picked up a pair of wins, defeating East Long Beach 13-1 in the quarterfinals and South Bay Gold 14-5 in the semifinals.
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Now, the Irvine team moves on to play in Monday’s regional final, where it will need to beat Placentia Navy twice to claim a regional championship. The team, along with East Long Beach and South Bay, has already secured a spot in the super regional July 10 in Escondido by finishing in the top five of the regional tournament.
However, Irvine can bypass the super regionals and advance to the subsequent zone tournament July 17 in Walnut by winning the regional title Monday.
The first game is at 5 p.m. and a second game would be played about 30 minutes later if needed.
To reach the championship, the team endured a grueling slate, playing five games in three days, including back-to-back days with doubleheaders. Yet, despite the difficult path, Irvine Coach Gary Patchett’s faith in his team never wavered.
“It was tough,” Patchett said. “[Playing] two games a day … I knew there was going to be a lot of baseball ahead of us, but we have a good team. It was kind of uncharacteristic of us [in] the first game to fall behind like that. I know we’re resilient and [we’ll] just come back and keep playing.”
In both of the games on Sunday, Irvine jumped out to large early leads courtesy of a steady diet of runs in the first few innings.
Irvine scored in each of the first three offensive frames in both contests of the doubleheader. This includes a 5-0 lead it earned after three innings against East Long Beach and a 9-0 lead it held three innings into its matchup against South Bay.
Featuring a power-filled heart of the order, along with a speedy and consistent top of the lineup, Irvine poses a nightmare matchup for opposing teams.
“Our 3-4-5 [part of the order] is pretty good,” Patchett said. “So if our leadoff and two-hole guys are getting on-base, we’re tough to pitch to. Those guys can run a little bit, and you tend to get a little bit more fastballs when you have speed on base. If they’re worried about the wrong guys and they hang a pitch, we’re able to do damage.”
Outfielder Nolan Sarmiento delivered the highlight of the afternoon for Irvine in the second inning against South Bay, with a three-run home run over the left field wall to give his team a 6-0 lead. He went a combined 4 for 6 at the plate across the two games and reached base a whopping eight times on Sunday.
Additionally, catcher and outfielder Connor Davis proved to be a difficult out in the leadoff spot, going a perfect 4 for 4 with a walk against East Long Beach. He also matched Sarmiento, reaching base eight times in the doubleheader.
On the mound, Irvine got back-to-back strong outings from starting pitchers Yuito Mizuno and Zeke Rodriguez. Mizuno held East Long Beach scoreless in the five innings he tossed, while Rodriguez limited South Bay to just two runs in his start, which also lasted five innings.
Patchett remains proud of his pitchers for continuing to throw strikes, after walks plagued the team in its opening-round loss.
“We had some command issues; I think we walked nine or ten guys that first game, so it was good to see guys get back on it the second time around and pound the zone,” Patchett said. “It comes down to throwing strikes.”
Riding a streak of five-straight wins by nine or more runs, the team will now look to carry its momentum into the championship tomorrow against Placentia. Even though it has to win two games, Irvine remains confident that it can cap its run from the losers bracket to the title game with a championship.
“We have to beat that team (Placentia) twice, but I think we’re up to it,” Patchett said. “We still have a couple arms left. It’s baseball, so anything can happen.”
The tournament is sponsored by Irvine Pony Baseball.
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