This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Charter Oak PONY All-Stars get going in Walnut

The Charter Oak Gold Bronco All-Stars (ages 11-12) made sure they avoided any early headaches on Thursday.

The Charter Oak Gold Bronco All-Stars (ages 11-12) made sure they avoided any early headaches on Thursday, taking an 8-4 victory over Duarte in the opening round of the eight-team PONY Regional Tournament at Walnut Creekside Park.

Led by the batting of D.J. Rubalcava and Jared Surdo and a pitching performance highlighted by starter Alec Manke and Frank Gallegos,  Charter Oak broke open a tight 2-1 game with a three-run fifth inning.

They added three more runs in the sixth after Duarte closed to within 5-4 in the top of the sixth inning.

Find out what's happening in Glendorawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It was nice to see us bounce back after (Duarte) scored some runs," Charter Oak coach Danny Rubalcava said.

"I think we have an offense that's capable to put runs on the board." D.J. Rubalcava went 4-for-4 on the day with Surdo providing a clutch RBI in the contest.

Find out what's happening in Glendorawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Coach Rubalcava also credited Gallegos for a clutch defensive play early in the game that kept Charter Oak ahead and with momentum on its side.

Charter Oak will now face Walnut on Saturday at 3 p.m. Three teams will advance out of the five-day Walnut Regional and to the Super Regional that begins on July 21 in Whittier.

Coach Rubalcava knows his squad will have its hands full over the next few days, yet seems confident that his bunch will have what it takes to keep going.  "This is going to be a tough tournament," the coach said. "But we're going to be okay as long as we play ball the way we know how."

Duarte falls into a Saturday elimination game against the Charter Oak Chargers at 10 a.m.


In other Bronco Regional action: One valiant rally fell just short for the Charter Oak Chargers, who dropped a thrilling 8-7 contest to Walnut.

Joshua Marquez was called out at home plate after a Darryl Matsune passed ball turned into the final out of the game.

Having rallied back from an 8-2 deficit over the final two innings, the Chargers already plated three seventh-inning runs and had runners on second and third with two outs, giving Jeremy Hawkins a prime opportunity for a walk-off victory.

However, it was Walnut that walked off with a victory after Marquez was tagged by Matsune, who did a solid job of blocking home plate with one knee and tagging Marque after Walnut catcher Dylan Zavala chased down the passed ball.

It was a thrilling end to a game that Walnut seemed to have in the bag after adding to its 4-1 lead with two runs apiece in the fifth and sixth innings.

But the Chargers didn't fold. They scored one run in the fifth,  two runs in the bottom of the sixth and had their first four runners reach base in the bottom of the seventh without a single out

A couple of Walnut errors and an RBI groundout from Bobby Owens cut the deficit to a single run.

Unfortunately, the Chargers wouldn't complete the comeback. Now they face an elimination game against Duarte at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Adrian Paz and Esteban Villegas each scored two runs each for the Chargers.


In Mustang Regional action: It was a promising start for the Mustang (ages 9-10) Charter Oak Gold All-Stars, who coasted to a 13-0 mercy-rule victory over their all-star brothers in Charter Oak Silver on Thursday.

"The whole team played well," coach Tim O'Leary said. "We were really a cohesive unit out there."

O'Leary's squad will be looking to be one of two teams that could advance into another week of baseball action. If it emerges out of Walnut, they will compete in the Super Regional All-Star Tournament beginning July 21 in San Marcos.

"I like our chances," O'Leary said. "If we can play our game and up to our abilities, I really think we have a shot at a World Series."

Up next for Charter Oak Gold is a Saturday 3 p.m. meeting with Walnut, which was an 11-7 winner over Whittier Royal on Thursday. 

The tournament is double elimination.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?