Charter Oak Gold Broncos in the Hunt for PONY Title

WALNUT - Led by the bats of Frankie Gallegos and Jaron Surdo, the Charter Oak Gold Bronco All-Stars powered their way to an 11-1 mercy-rule victory over the Charter Oak Chargers Monday action of the PONY Regionals at Creekside Park.

The victory sets a rematch on Tuesday against West Covina Red for the Regional banner. In Day 4 action, West Covina Red handed Charter Oak its lone loss of the tournament, a 15-9 defeat. Now, Charter Oak will have to win two games on Tuesday against West Covina.

If they win the 5 p.m. matchup, the teams will play again at 7:30 p.m. No matter what happens, they have already earned a spot in the PONY Super Regionals later this week in Whittier.

"We battled every inning (of that West Covina game)," noted Gold coach Dale Rubalcava. "The good thing is that we were able to score runs and battled until the end. We just got the short end of the stick."

The sticks of Gallegos and Surdo are what got the job done against the Chargers. Surdo went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, two doubles and two runs scored. His two-run double in the third inning hit the left-center field fence and keyed a four-run inning.

Gallegos had the big hit of the third inning, blasting a two-run home run to right field to give Charter Oak a 6-0 lead. It was Gallegos' second home run of the tournament. He hit a grand slam in a 18-2 victory over Walnut on Saturday.

"He went with the pitch and took that ball for a ride," noted Rubalcava. "(Frankie) was ready for today and I'm sure he will be ready for tomorrow."

Gallegos also had a strong day from his shortstop position, making several standout plays throughout the game. Charter Oak completed the mercy rule in the sixth inning, scoring three runs. Surdo and Zo Llorens had RBI singles in the inning. Aleck Menke added three runs, followed by DJ Rubalcava, Gallegos and Brian Tolar with two runs apiece.  Tolar and Nick Zielomski also had multi-hit games. Llorens and Manke pitched three innings apiece for the Gold all-stars.

Despite the loss, Charter Oak Chargers coach Anthony Meneses was nothing but smiles after the game. His team lost their first game to Diamond Bar, only to roll off three straight victories and earn a berth to the Super Regionals.

"We knocked out three teams," Meneses said. "We played excellent this tournament. There was great pitching and the kids really stepped it up. I can't just single out one player. They all played hard."

Errors and nerves plagued the Chargers, who were eager to knock off their all-star counterparts.

"I think they wanted to beat them so bad that they got a little nervous," Meneses said. "We seemed a little eager."

Starting shortstop Joe Quintana went 2-for-3 for the Chargers with one run scored. Adrian Paz also added a RBI double.

The Charter Oak Bronco Gold All-Stars will not be the only Charter Oak team in action on Tuesday. The Mustang Gold All-Stars will play for the PONY banner against Whittier Navy at 5 p.m.

So far the Mustangs have won all three of their games by a 44-15 margin, including a 12-8 victory over Whittier Navy on Sunday. If Whittier Navy wins the first game, the teams will play again at 7:30 p.m. to decide a champion.