A Tough Loss for Diamond Bar at PONY Regionals

WALNUT - What looked like a first for the Diamond Bar Bronco (age 11-12) All-Stars instead turned into a another tough loss from the hands of West Covina Red.

Looking for their first victory of the season, Diamond Bar lost a tough 4-3 contest in day three action at the PONY All-Star Regionals.

Diamond Bar head coach Jim Ha noted shortly after the game that was his team's fourth loss in four games to West Covina.

"They've always been a tough opponent," Ha said. "We got closer this time but just fell short."

Holding a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning, things were looking good for Diamond Bar.

But suddenly, the first two West Covina batters got on base and trouble shortly began.

Daniel Ruiz scored on a error to tie the game and West Covina took the go-ahead lead with Noe Garcia's RBI groundout.

Eric Landin held Diamond Bar scoreless for three innings to preserve the victory for West Covina Red, which faces Charter Oak on Sunday for a chance to reach the title game.

It was a tough one to swallow for Diamond Bar, which opened the game with three runs in the first inning on a RBI double from Chris Pagador, an RBI single and a run on a West Covina passed ball from Caleb Ha.

However, Diamond Bar would get only two singles the rest of the way and never score again. Pitchers Eric Winchester and Pagador had gutsy efforts, but couldn't help Diamond Bar avoid a trip to the losers bracket.

"We got the pitching we needed and played good defense," coach Ha said.

The team lost a contest Sunday against the Charter Oak Chargers (8-7 winners over Duarte) on Sunday by a margin of 2-5 in an elimination game, ending regional play for the Diamond Bar Broncos.