Worn-out Newport downed, 14-1

Steve Virgen

The Newport Harbor Baseball Association Pony 14-year-old All-Stars

seemed to be looking for that one big hit, hoping that it would lead

to more Tuesday.

But having played six games in as many days, and 11 games within

the past two weeks, the NHBA All-Stars appeared to be just flat-out

tired. They were also in disarray on defense, committing seven errors

in the four innings they took the field. That all added up to a 14-1

mercy-rule loss in five innings to Rancho Trabuco in a semifinal of

the Los Alamitos invitational at the Los Alamitos Youth Baseball

Fields.

“I really think they are fatigued, playing so many games,” NHBA

Manager Doug Adams said. “Most of the players are in Newport Harbor

[High] football and baseball camps. Maybe they are a little

overworked at this time, but that’s not the entire problem.”

Adams has not been particularly pleased with his team’s defense in

the 15 games the players have been together. They are 8-7. They tend

to lose ground in a game because of mistakes, he said.

“Our defense has been suffering,” Adams said. “We have not been

playing good defense. We have gotten in some bizarre situations on

defense. We are at the point where we are looking at each other and

saying, ‘What’s going on here?’

“It actually might be a matter of playing less, and taking a

break, to get better,” he said. “We are going to take three days off

over the Fourth of July Weekend, and we need to.”

It’s not as if the NHBA All-Stars have lost confidence. They know

they are capable of hitting and playing consistently, as evidenced in

their 8-6, come-from-behind victory over the Coast Cubs, a

travel-ball team based in San Diego, Monday night in the Dana Point

Classic.

The NHBA Pony All-Stars trailed, 6-0, through three innings, but

mounted a comeback on the strength of home runs by Troy Seeber, Ben

Frazier and Juan Guzman.

Seeber, Frazier and Guzman provided a two-run shot each. For

Guzman, it was his first-ever home run.

Frazier, who also pitched a complete game, knocked his homer in

the fifth inning to tie the score, 6-6. Then, Garrett Gordon later

stepped up with a two-run double to provide the difference.

“We got some clutch pitching from Ben Frazier,” Adams said. “We

were down, 6-0, but we just flipped the switch and turned it on to

good. They really put forth a superior effort. One of my big things

with the players is, we can’t always control the result, but we can

control the effort. Sometimes we don’t have it because we are just

tired.”

On Tuesday, Newport could not find the momentum that led to the

victory over Coast, and Rancho Trabuco took advantage, scoring five

runs in the second, three in the third and six in the fourth.

NHBA, which lost to Rancho Trabuco, 16-6, Thursday, had five hits.

Gordon and Adrian Rodriguez each finished with a base hit. Seeber

doubled in the fourth.

In the fifth, Nick Svendsen led off with a single. He advanced to

second on a groundout and went to third on a wild pitch. He scored on

a balk.

NHBA second baseman Preston Davey contributed on defense. Of the

12 outs, he assisted on four. On offense, Guzman was the only player

to reach base twice. He reached on an error in the third and drew a

walk in the fifth. During the game, Frazier injured his ankle and

Brett Adams became ill. Both did not bat in the fourth.

The NHBA All-Stars return to action Friday at the Dana Point

Classic before taking their break.