Kao Pitches Big for Pintos

The Palisades Pony Baseball Association season ended two weeks ago but there are still plenty of games for many young ballplayers. The All-Star tournaments have begun throughout the Southland and local squads are already asserting themselves. The Pinto (8-year-olds) All-Stars got a huge boost from their smallest player, Brandon Kao, who came in to pitch with the bases loaded and struck out the side to preserve a 12-6 victory over La Canada in the Silver Division championship game at the Father’s Day Classic last Sunday in West Covina. Palisades opened the tournament with a 10-6 victory over Cheviot Hills and bounced back from Saturday’s tough loss to Toluca Lake with a 9-1 victory over La Quinta in the semifinals. Making the Pintos’ accomplishment that much more impressive is the fact that the team didn’t face live pitching during the PPBA season. Earlier in the week Bryant Reese tossed three shutout innings and hit a triple in the bottom of the sixth while shortstop Shane Skelly and catcher Harrison Listen each had RBI hits in Palisades’ 3-2 victory over Santa Monica in the first game of a doubleheader at the Field of Dreams. The next Pinto tournament is the regional playoffs beginning after the Fourth of July holiday. Bronco The first weekend of the “Battle at the Beach” tournament was a success for Palisades’ 12-year-old All-Star squad, which split its games in the A Division. Pitcher Jonathan Sington kept Palisades in the game early in Saturday’s opener against host East Long Beach, which capitalized on fielding mistakes to break open a 3-2 game with a big fourth inning on its way to a 12-2 victory. Palisades rebounded the next day with a 14-4 mercy-rule rout of Mira Costa, with Cade Hulse striking out four batters in four innings and Daniel Hackman pitching the last inning. Hulse, Matt and Jack McGeagh, Tyler McMorrow and Bryant Falconello each had multiple hits and Nicky Rivera smacked a triple. Palisades plays Torrance American on Saturday, then advances to the playoffs on Sunday. The team has a 6-3 record, playing Santa Monica twice, Cheviot Hills and reaching the semifinals at the Mid-Valley Memorial Day Classic. Mustang Palisades’ 10-year-old All-Star team beat Santa Fe Springs, 11-4, in its first game and lost to Mira Costa in its second game of the “Battle by the Beach” in Long Beach. Matt Ursin-Smith hammered two doubles and a triple, William Winkenhower had a double and Jason Starrels hit a two-RBI single. Starrels pitched three strong innings and Ursin-Smith pitched the last three. Emmett Collins went two for two at the plate. Palisades (6-3 overall) went 2-2 at the Mid-Valley Tournament and 2-0 in a doubleheader against Metro and Cheviot Hills. Coach Joe Collins’ squad is hosting the eight-team Pony District Tournament and will play Bellflower at 4:30 p.m. on July 8 and either Santa Monica or Santa Fe Springs July 10. Palisades’ Mustang B All-Stars, a combined 9-and 10-year-old squad coached by John McNamee, won the Father’s Day Classic in West Covina last weekend.