Mon Valley storms back to advance at Pony League World Series

After the Mon Valley Pony baseball team surrendered four runs in the third inning on five walks and two hit by pitches during Sunday’s Pony League World Series elimination game against Long Beach (Calif.), it knew it had to rally immediately.

So the squad showed its resiliency with two runs in the fourth, two more in the sixth and three in the seventh to capture a 7-4 victory. Mon Valley will take on Palmview (Texas), which they lost to 6-2 to open the tournament, at 10 a.m. Monday.

“One of their best traits, besides being good ballplayers, is their resilience,” Mon Valley manager Jason Plymire said. “They never, ever get down. They’re always cheering for each other and keeping a positive attitude. That’s definitely what’s driving them.”

Zach Plymire was the hero Sunday, earning the win on the mound and also crushing the game-winning home run in the seventh. He threw 4 ¹⁄₃ innings in relief, surrendering no runs, one hit and three walks.

“I was so happy and hyped up,” Plymire said about the home run. “That was the best moment of this tournament so far for me.

“I had to work more inside pitches today rather than pitching outside like I usually do. My curveball wasn’t really on today, so I went more to my cutter and my changeup, and it was throwing their batters off a little bit.”

Mon Valley began its comeback when AJ Watson opened the top of the fourth with a double down the third-base line. After Plymire walked and Jack Crovak popped out, Cam Matusik ripped a single to center field to make it 4-1.

Kennedy Nash then hit a sacrifice fly to right to score Plymire and cut it to 4-2.

Jack Crovak and Matusik led the sixth off by drawing walks before Nash grounded into a fielder’s choice. Demaris Tolliver then hit an RBI single to right to make it 4-3 and stole second to put runners on second and third for Braylon Schoch.

Schoch did his job with an RBI groundout to tie it 4-4.

Mon Valley went ahead in the seventh when Jesse Sobczak hit a leadoff single and stole second. Plymire then drove a hard-hit homer to left center to finally give Mon Valley a lead at 6-4.

Crovak then followed with a homer to left field to finish the scoring at 7-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, Plymire collected three quick outs to end it.

• Host Washington lost its opening game at the Pony League World Series on Sunday, falling 5-3 to Bronx, N.Y.

Landon Trnavsky scored on an error, and Coen Phasupon had an RBI single for Washington. Landon Conn was 2 for 3 for Washington, which will play the winner of Bay County, Mich. and Spain in an elimination game at 12:30 p.m. Monday.