After winning four straight games to advance to the semifinal
round of the Senior Babe Ruth World Series, the Watsonville Aggies’
run finally came to an end on Wednesday night when the local 16- to
18-year-old baseball team lost to Portland, Ore., by a 7-1
margin.
NEWARK, OHIO
After winning four straight games to advance to the semifinal round of the Senior Babe Ruth World Series, the Watsonville Aggies’ run finally came to an end on Wednesday night when the local 16- to 18-year-old baseball team lost to Portland, Ore., by a 7-1 margin.
Portland, which won the World Series two years ago, will square off against Mobile, Ala., on Thursday night for the championship. Alabama, which is undefeated at 5-0 in the tournament so far, upended host Licking County, Ohio, on Wednesday night, 14-2.
First pitch is 3:30 p.m. PST.
As for the Aggies, who include Hollister’s Justin Schlie, Ricky Garcia and Kyle Zozaya, the team wraps up its World Series bid with a 4-2 record, falling one win short of reaching the final.
The Watsonville squad suffered a tourney-opening loss to Alabama (16-7), but fought back to earn pool-play victories over Ottumwa, Iowa (6-2), Bloomfield, N.J. (9-8), and Licking County, Ohio (10-0), before opening Tuesday’s single-elimination bracket with an 11-6 win against Cross Plains, Wisc.
The victory over Wisconsin advanced the Aggies to Wednesday’s semifinal against Portland, but the Pacific Northwest representative proved to be too much. Portland plated seven unanswered runs after Watsonville grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning.
The Oregon team knotted the game at 1-all through two complete innings, then grabbed a 5-1 lead after the third frame.
Watsonville was held to just four hits and committed three errors in the field.
Schlie pitched the remaining two innings in relief for Watsonville, and allowed two runs, one earned, on two hits, striking out two.
Starting pitcher Taylor Toccalino tossed the first four innings, and allowed five runs, three earned, on four hits. He struck out five and walked two.
