Anaheim remains Newport nemesis

The Anaheim 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars again showed their mastery

of the Newport Harbor Baseball Association Bronco A team with a 12-4

victory in the semifinals of the section tournament Monday night at

York Field in Whittier.

Newport lost twice to Anaheim in the sectionals and once in the

district tournament. Despite Monday’s loss, Newport will advance to

the regional tournament as the No. 2 seed in Orange County -- behind

Anaheim -- by virtue of its 2-0, eight-inning victory over Los

Alamitos Sunday.

Danny Moskovits and Ryan Albert each pitched four innings of

shutout ball and produced offensively. Moskovits went 2 for 4 with a

double and Albert drove in a run in the eighth inning with a double

against Los Alamitos.

“That was possibly one of the best baseball games I have seen,”

Rich Hogan, the Bronco A Manager, said.

Hogan tinkered with the lineup Monday, giving pitching duties to

Jacob McCann, Jack Grace and Alex Maddox.

Albert, one of six 11-year-olds on the team, had two hits and two

RBIs while Michael Helfrich added two hits. Moskovits chipped in with

a hit and an RBI. Grace doubled, Blake Davey tallied two hits and

McCann added a single.

Newport scored its first run in the fourth after Helfrich singled

and stole second. Svendsen hit a grounder to the third baseman, who

threw to first, but Helfrich quickly went to third, sliding in safely

to beat a throw. Moskovits then hit him in with a sacrifice fly to

right.

“That sparked the guys up a little bit,” Hogan said.

Newport cut the lead to 10-4 before Anaheim scored two more.

Newport will play the top-ranked team from Riverside in the first

round of the eight-team, double-elimination regional tournament

beginning at 5 p.m. Thursday in Chino Hills.

One team will advance from the sectional tournament to the zone

championship, the final step before the World Series.