Baseball: Luzon PH beats San Antonio TX, moves up in Bronco-11 World Series

Catcher for Team Luzon in action at the 2019 Bronco-11 World Series. CONTRIBUTED

RICHMOND, Virginia — In game 10 of the 2019 Bronco11 World Series (B11WS), Team Luzon, Philippines defeated Team San Antonio, Texas 8-5, with Alfonso Alcantara’s two RBI’s helping the Philippines secure the victory and advance in the tournament.

The Bronco-11 World Series is a world-class international youth baseball tournament involving the best 11-year-old PONY Baseball teams from around the world. Each year, teams from Mexico, the Caribbean, and Asia, as well as four U.S. teams and host team Chesterfield compete in the series.

San Antonio scored one run in the top of the first to open the game’s scoring. Consecutive walks and a single loaded the bases for San Antonio with one out. A wild pitch then allowed Addison Medrano to score San Antonio’s first run.

Luzon answered back quickly, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. Leohj Palanog walked with one out and advanced to second on a fielder’s choice. Palanog then stole third and Aljun Tapia walked, putting runners on the corners with two outs.

A defensive error on Jan Soriano’s ground ball allowed Palanog to score and let Tapia advance to third. Alcantara singled to center field, scoring Tapia and Soriano for the final runs of the inning.

Competing teams at the 2019 Bronco-11 baseball World Series. CONTRIBUTED

San Antonio scored one run in the top of the second to cut Luzon’s lead in half. Josiah Garcia reached first on a fielding error, then advanced to second and third on consecutive throwing errors. Garcia scored on Jake Hernandez’s RBI infield single.

Luzon lengthened its lead in the bottom half of the second, adding two more runs. Zephyr Tolentino’s and Laurence Valeros’ consecutive singles, along with a throwing error, put runners on second and third. Another error, this time a fielding error, scored both Tolentino and Valeros.

After 2.5 scoreless innings, Luzon scored two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to increase its lead to five runs. Alcantara reached base on a fielder’s choice. After stealing second, Alcantara scored, thanks to Amadeus Trozado’s RBI single to center field. Trozado then advanced to second on the throw home before Carlo Tobillo singled to left field, scoring Trozado.

San Antonio bounced back, scoring three runs in the top of the sixth. Nate Espinoza started off the inning’s scoring with an RBI double to center field that scored Alex Garza and Diego Fernandez. After Espinoza advanced to third on a fielder’s choice, Espinoza then scored on another fielder’s choice.

Luzon answered, adding one run in the bottom of the sixth. Valeros led off the inning with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a fielder’s choice. Valeros then scored thanks to Tapia’s RBI double to center field.

Luzon advances to play to Redondo Beach, California at 8:00 p.m. ET/US on Sunday, July 28 at Harry G. Daniel Park at Iron Bridge. San Antonio ends its 2019 B11WS run after compiling a 1-2 record.