The West Zone Champs, Redondo Beach, CA (USA) earned their second win of the day by defeating the East Zone Johnstown PA, (USA) squad 9-4. Redondo Beach was led by Gabe Ibarra, who ended the game 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored in the victory.
Johnstown began the game with two runs, courtesy of an Ethan Janidlo double to left field to bring in Pace Prosser and Connor Yoder. Redondo Beach replied in their bottom half of the inning, with Gabe Ibarra and Cooper Couig batting in a run each.
The score remained at 2-2 until the bottom of the third inning. Sonny Hurtado doubled, then Couig brought him home with a single to left field to push Redondo Beach ahead. Redondo scored their fourth run of the game when Cameron O’Neil singled to bring in Reid Kaluger.
Nick Aguirre and Shaun Robinson both scored in the fourth inning, increasing Redondo Beach’s lead to 6-2 after four. Johnstown quickly cut into that lead in the next half inning.
Connor Yoder smacked a ball to deep enough to center field to bring around Ethan Semelsberger from first base and Prosser from second. Yoder’s two-RBI double trimmed Redondo Beach’s lead to two at 6-4 after five innings.
Redondo seemed to have a response for every Johnstown move, though. In the bottom of the sixth, Kaluger, Hurtado, and Ibarra all hit RBI doubles to push the Redondo lead to five. Johnstown wasn’t able to get anything going in the final inning and Redondo held on to the lead and 9-4 win.
Gabe Ibarra and Cooper Couig led the Redondo bats with three hits each. Ibarra and Couig accounted for five of Redondo’s nine runs.
Redondo Beach and Johnstown will now run it back on Monday for a spot in the 2019 Pony-13 World Series. The start time is still to be determined.