Photo courtesy of David Hoffman
By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor
One year ago a local 9U All-Star team called the Nachos became the first PPBA squad to advance to the PONY Zone playoffs—one step away from the International Word Series—winning 28 of 37 games and two tournaments in the process.
Now in the 10U division and under a new nickname, Coach David Hoffman’s “Blue Crew” has picked up where it left off last summer, winning 13 of 14 games and two tournament championships thus far.
The latest triumph came last weekend at the Las Virgenes Kick Off in Agoura Hills, where Blue Crew outscored its opposition 51-6 on the way to the championship.
Blue Crew went 5-0 in the 13-team tournament. On the mound, the squad was led by Henry Wyman, Will Hill, Dylan Hartuian and Blake Milinovich, including complete game victories for Wyman and Hill in the semifinals and finals, each striking out eight batters in five innings.
Perrish McGinn broke open the championship game with a two-out, two-run double. Remy Moore had two hits, and Wil Hoffman added a key two-out RBI single in the finale.
Sam Foster and Jackson Moore keyed victories along the way with their clutch pitching and hitting, while timely hitting from Ethan Montnimy and Max Yost and steady defense from Hudson Tucker, Cy Murphy, Isaac Ungerledier and Kellen Whalen helped the Blue Crew rack up a 20-2 margin in the last two games.
Hoffman, a coach in the PPBA since 2018, piloted the Mustang Orioles to the World Series title this spring (his second PPBA title) and now has his All-Star squad poised for a deep run through PONY-sanctioned tournaments, which begin this weekend, and hopefully to the International World Series.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
