LG Legends Win World Series Opener

The Los Gatos Legends in the Colt League World Series Division of Pony baseball rolled to a 5-2 victory over Levittown, Puerto Rico, Saturday in Lafayette, IN.

They will play Germany Sunday at noon EST in their second match at Bert E. Loeb Stadium in Lafayette.

Other teams in the tournament come from Greensboro, NC; Laredo, TX, Germany, Steger, IL; and Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.

The Colt Division team is made up of 15- and 16-year-old players. To win the series, the Los Gatos team must win in its respective division after four games of play and then win the division game to reach the championship game Thursday, Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. EST.

Meanwhile, with back-to-back losses Friday and Saturday, the Los Gatos Legends in the Palomino League World Series Division were eliminated in Compton, CA.

On Thursday, the Legends beat the Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico team.

After leading most of the game Friday night 2-0 over defending champion Lynnhaven, VA, the Legends gave up three runs in the fifth inning to drop the game 3-2. And Los Gatos was shut-out 3-0 yesterday by Tainan, Taiwan.

Then on Saturday, the Legends were once again defeated by Tainan, Taiwan.

All three games of the series were played at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton.

Legends coach Erick Raich said his team stayed tough and never gave up during the series, in which they were victorious in the opening game 13-3 over the Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico team.

“I thought overall they played well all-year long,” said Raich. “They battled hard and fought back, but it wasn’t enough. We’ve been banged-up pretty well and we fought as hard as we could.”

Though the Legends are out in the Palomino League, Raich said the experience of playing on the international stage has been exciting.

“It’s a special thing any time you get to play in a World Series, the experience is great,” he said.