A day after dropping their opener 16-10 to Stockton, the 11-and-under Bronco Division all-stars from Morgan Hill stayed alive in the NorCal Regional with a well-earned 5-4 victory over Vacaville on Sunday.
At John Arlington Park in Vacaville, the Morgan Hill Thrill rallied past the tournament host with three runs in the sixth inning. That helped vindicate a brilliant pitching effort by Mike Porras and Alejandro Torres, who struck out four batters apiece.
"Emotionally, the kids are pretty tired after this weekend," Thrill coach Mike Zanotto said in a telephone interview Sunday. "Since Memorial Day, it's been nonstop for them - a lot of baseball.
"Their spirit is up right now. They've been that way the whole trip. It's like a holiday for them. They're just kids having fun."
Mark Quinby led the charge offensively for Morgan Hill, totaling two base hits, including a double off the top of the wall in left field. Porras and Josh Alaniz had RBI-singles; and Domenic Zanotto and Pat Muller singled and walked for the Thrill. Alaniz and Muller scored.
Porras surrendered one earned run through the first five innings and Torres got the win in relief, allowing no earned runs.
It was the 14th victory in 15 contests for the reigning Santa Clara/Alameda County Section champions, who have sampled every kind of outcome during their magical run to regionals. Less than a week ago, Morgan Hill won its section tournament title with a staggering 20-2 victory over Blossom Hill. Since then, Blossom Valley has reached the regional championship game while the Thrill has had to stave off elimination in the loser's bracket.
"That's just the nature of the game at this level," Zanotto said. "I remember telling the guys after they beat Blossom Valley in the section final, 'that's a team that could win the regional.'"
The teams could meet again, pending the outcome of Morgan Hill's rematch with Stockton at 5 p.m. Monday - results were late by press time. With a victory, the Thrill would have played Blossom Valley in the championship series that same night, having to win twice.
Against Stockton on Saturday, Morgan Hill took a 2-0 lead on a Porras' home run but, from there, allowed 15 straight runs. The Thrill cut the lead to 15-9 and had a chance to do more with the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth innings but was turned away scoreless.
"We had a chance there, but bad luck killed it," Mike Zanotto added.
Morgan Hill got a three-run home run by Torres and two hits by Quinby. Teammates Brad Higgins reached base four times and Zanotto and Cole Campi three times.
Alaniz struck out one and gave up one run in four innings, helping the Thrill overcome a shaky start.
"We made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes," Mike Zanotto began. "We walked five guys in that first inning and weren't playing well defensively. You're just not going to win games when that happens."
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