PHOTOS: Placentia Bronco squad earns spot in regional final, qualifies for next tourney

Placentia players thank their fans after Sunday’s victory in the regional tournament. (PHOTOS: TIm Burt, OC Sports Zone).

Placentia’s Pony Bronco 12-and-under baseball team recorded a key victory Sunday morning, its third straight at the regional tournament at Placentia Champions Sports Complex.

Placentia defeated Torrance 17-3 to become the first team from the regional to advance into next week’s super regional in Corona and also advanced into Monday’s championship game at 5 p.m. Placentia will have a rematch with Torrance in the final and needs on win to capture the title.

Placentia opened the 11-team, double elimination tournament defeating Irvine 12-2 on Thursday and topped Olive Orange 12-7 on Saturday.

“I’m excited for the boys, like I just told them, any time you have a chance to play for a Central Region championship, it’s quite the accomplishment,” said Placentia Manager Nick Nunnari. “I think the Central Region is the strongest.”

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Placentia was led by starting pitcher Jeremiah Peterson, who had six strikeouts in the first four innings and also had a two run home run in the first inning and a three-run homer in the seventh inning. He allowed a run and struck out seven in five innings.

Ty Erwin and Caden Petler finished on the mound for Placentia.

David Orozco also had two solo homers on consecutive at bats for Placentia in the sixth and seventh innings.

“We played great, Jeremiah Peterson, who I’ve coached since he was 5 or 6, really pitched well and got things going with the two-run homer in the first inning and David Orozco had two big homers for us,” Nunnari said. “I’m proud of the way the guys got after a good Torrance team that has been playing really well. I was happy with the effort.”

Nunnari said he was pleased to see Orozco, who started 0 for 2 at the plate, finish with a bang.

“It was good to see him bounce back and drive the ball a couple time in his last two at bats,” Nunnari said.

The pitching continued to be solid for Placentia.

“We’re fortunate to have 12 guys we trust to pitch at any time,” Nunnari said. “We tell them all to be ready and stay ready, As long as we throw strikes, we like our chances with our defense.”

Peterson, the winning pitcher, was happy that his squad was able to secure a berth in the final.

“It was honestly nice to get that win so we can move on to tomorrow and win the Central Region, it felt good to start on the mound, I felt pretty good, I just wanted to pump strikes and just help my team out so we can let our bats do the work and that’s what we did and we ended up pulling out the victory,” he said.

“I feel our team has been successful because since we’re playing nine players, if they’re subbed in …. they know they have to do well, they have to hit and have to field to do well and stay in and get their spot, everyone has been doing well and contributing.”

Placentia got off to a fast start in the first inning. Leadoff hitter Oliver Rojas singled and scored on Peterson’s home run.

Placentia added three more runs in the third inning with two runs scoring on an single by Tyler De La Rosa and another scoring on a single by Jack Nunnari.

Placentia moved out to a 6-0 lead with a run in the fourth inning. Beckham Mahoney singled and came around to score.

Logan Finley had a solo home run in the fifth inning for Torrance to cut the lead to 6-1. But in the top of the sixth inning, Placentia exploded for six runs to move out to a 12-1 lead.

Wyatt Ragland had a two run homer in the bottom of the sixth for Torrance to cut the lead to 12-3, but Placentia, behind the home runs by Peterson and Orozco, moved out to a 17-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning.

Rojas, the leadoff hitter, had two hits and scored three runs for Placentia.

Three teams from the regional move on to the super regional: Placentia, Torrance and Olive Orange.

—Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com