Pony

The Hagerstown PONY-13 All-Stars are about to earn some frequent flyer miles. The team traveled to Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon for an overnight stay, and will catch a flight to Phoenix on Thursday morning at 8. After a connecting flight lands in Los Angeles, it's off to Fullerton, Calif., for the PONY-13 World Series on Friday, and a first-round game against Tijuana, Mexico at 1 p.m. (4 p.m. Eastern). It's the result of Hagerstown winning the East Zone title with a 13-1 win over Albany (N.Y.)

Mitchell Wilson's RBI single was the biggest blow in a four-run sixth inning that lifted Hagerstown to an 8-6 victory over host Fullerton in an elimination game at the PONY-13 World Series on Saturday. Hagerstown will face the loser of Saturday's late game between Tijuana, Mexico, and Tamiami (Miami, Fla.) on Sunday at 4 p.m. Eastern. Should Hagerstown win, it would play the Tijuana-Tamiami winner at 10 p.m. Eastern. “We're excited. We're really happy,” Hagerstown manager Dave Barr said.

Thursday, August 2, 2012 YOUTH BASEBALL The Hagerstown PONY-14 All-Stars opened play Wednesday in the East Zone Tournament with a 13-1 win over the host team, High Point Black. Trent Rider threw a complete-game two-hitter and Colby Byers had three hits and four RBIs, ending the game on a grand slam that put the 10-run rule into effect. Zach Andrews had two hits and three RBIs and Justin Smith had two hits and two RBIs for Hagerstown. Hagerstown played New Bedford in a winners' bracket game Thursday night, but no information was available.

The Hagerstown PONY B All-Stars made the most of their second opportunities against their Hagerstown A counterparts this weekend. Jeff Bennett tossed a four-hitter and Stephen Ashby hit a pair of solo home runs to lead Hagerstown B to a 6-4 victory over Hagerstown A in the PONY East Zone West Region championship game on Sunday. The win followed a 4-3 victory over the A squad in the winners' bracket final on Saturday. Hagerstown A defeated East Ohio earlier Sunday to earn the rematch with Hagerstown B in the championship round.

Hagerstown A advanced to the championship round of the Pony League Section Tournament by beating Hagerstown B 19-3 on Saturday night at Funkhouser Park. The game was halted after 4 1/2 innings because of the 10-run rule. Hagerstown B will try to stave off elimination today at 2 p.m. against Chambersburg in the losers' bracket final. Chambersburg eliminated South Adams 17-0 in five innings. The winner of that game will have to defeat Hagerstown A twice in the championship round, beginning at 4:30, to win the title.

Two Hagerstown teams - the Blue and the Gold - advanced to the PONY 13-year-old regional tournament even though neither of them officially won the sectional title. The championship round at Funkhouser Park was cut short by rain and cancelled since both teams had already advanced to the regional by playing in Sunday's game. Hagerstown Blue entered the game undefeated in the double-elimination tournament while Hagerstown Gold had one loss. Hagerstown Gold owned a 11-10 lead after 4 1/2 innings when the storm hit and halted and then ended the game.

California dreaming ... The Hagerstown PONY 13-year-old 'A' all-star team is one step away from the World Series in Chino Hills, Calif. The team, managed by Ed Kipe, will compete in the East Zone Tournament, starting Sunday afternoon in Davidson, N.C. The winner will earn a trip to the World Series, which begins Aug. 1. "If we win, we'll go directly from North Carolina to California," Kipe said. Hagerstown earned a berth to the East Zone Tournament by winning the West Region tournament last week in Boardman, Ohio.

YOUTH BASEBALL BOARDMAN, Ohio -- Hagerstown scored five runs in the first inning, two in each of the second and third innings and four in the fourth to defeat Tri-T National 13-3 at the PONY 14 Regional Tournament. Jordan Dickens pitched a two-hitter with eight strikeouts. Dylan Appel smacked a three-run home run in the first inning, while Andrew Yacyk had two hits and two RBIs. Hagerstown followed the win with an 11-8 loss to Bucks County (Ohio). Phillip Pietro hit a two-run homer in the first inning, Jason Mayles had a two-run homer in the third and Brad Spickler had two hits for Hagerstown, which led 7-4 entering the bottom of the fourth before Bucks County scored seven runs with the help of three errors.

The Hagerstown PONY 'A' All-Stars were one out away from clinching the section title Sunday against Chambersburg American. Now, they're one more day away. Zach Boone's pinch-hit, two-out, three-run homer in the top of the seventh inning gave Chambersburg new tournament life as it beat Hagerstown 8-7 to force a final game today at 7 p.m. at Funkhouser Park. Hagerstown led 7-5 as Chambersburg came up to bat in the top of the seventh. Kyle Patterson and Andrew Reed both drew one-out walks before Boone was sent to the plate as a pinch hitter with two outs.

The hazy heat of August and the crashing of helmets against pads signify that football practice is in full swing. While North Hagerstown's JV and freshman teams run drills and prepare for the upcoming season, there is a group of smaller jerseys and whiter helmets mimicking them on an adjacent field. Say hello to the Junior Hubs, a group of 6- to 14-year-olds vying to become future gridiron stars for North Hagerstown. The Junior Hubs were started in 2011 by North freshman coach Ron Thomas and JV coach Dave Foltz to give younger kids a chance to play travel football.

Friday, August 3, 2012 YOUTH BASEBALL HIGH POINT, N.C. - Hagerstown defeated Chesterfield (Va.) 8-1 on Friday night in the losers' bracket final at the PONY-14 East Zone Tournament. Hagerstown, which improved to 3-1 at the tournament, must defeat unbeaten New Bedford (Mass.) twice Saturday in the championship round to win the title and advance to the World Series. Earlier Friday, Dalton Stewart had three hits and two RBIs and Cody Hammond went the distance on the mound for the victory as Hagerstown defeated host High Point 7-4 in a losers' bracket game.

Thursday, August 2, 2012 YOUTH BASEBALL The Hagerstown PONY-14 All-Stars opened play Wednesday in the East Zone Tournament with a 13-1 win over the host team, High Point Black. Trent Rider threw a complete-game two-hitter and Colby Byers had three hits and four RBIs, ending the game on a grand slam that put the 10-run rule into effect. Zach Andrews had two hits and three RBIs and Justin Smith had two hits and two RBIs for Hagerstown. Hagerstown played New Bedford in a winners' bracket game Thursday night, but no information was available.

Hagerstown was eliminated from the PONY-13 World Series late Sunday night, falling 16-6 to Tamiami of Miami, Fla. Hagerstown finished 2-2 in the tournament. It lost to Tijuana, Mexico, 9-3 on Friday, then defeated Fullerton 8-6 on Saturday before beating Tijuana 15-4 in five innings in a rematch Sunday afternoon. “I'm extremely proud, so proud of the kids,” Hagerstown manager Dave Barr said. “The game against Miami was much closer than the score would indicate. ... Overall, to finish in the top four - and one of the directors said we finished third; I don't know how that is - but I'm tremendously proud of these kids.” Tamiami advanced to play Irvine (Calif.)

Saturday, July 28, 2012 YOUTH BASEBALL BOARDMAN, Ohio - Myles Gayman had three hits, including a grand slam, and Cody Hammond hit two home runs as Hagerstown defeated East Ohio 25-2 in its first game at the PONY-14 district tournament Saturday. Ryan Brown had three hits for Hagerstown, while Justin Smith, Dalton Stewart, Zach Andrews and Matt Malphurs each had two hits in the victory. Smith, the winning pitcher, had six strikeouts. Adam Kees Memorial Tournament National 14, Halfway 1 National: Cody Everly 5 hits; Steve Witmer 3 hits, 6 Ks; Sara Bittinger 3 hits; Duncan Burnett, Leithan Bedregal 2 hits each.

Last year, when Megan Mikulsky went to show her horse Glory during the Washington County Ag Expo and Fair, she made a startling discovery. He was gone. “He ran away. He went over and made friends with the cows,” she said. “But I caught him.” Megan, 15, of Smithsburg, said learning to think fast and deal with emergency situations is just one of many ways the 4-H-sponsored Horse and Pony English Show benefits her and other riders. The show is the culmination of a yearlong 4-H project in which young riders assume most, if not all, responsibility for their horses.

The Hagerstown PONY-13 All-Stars are about to earn some frequent flyer miles. The team traveled to Pittsburgh on Wednesday afternoon for an overnight stay, and will catch a flight to Phoenix on Thursday morning at 8. After a connecting flight lands in Los Angeles, it's off to Fullerton, Calif., for the PONY-13 World Series on Friday, and a first-round game against Tijuana, Mexico at 1 p.m. (4 p.m. Eastern). It's the result of Hagerstown winning the East Zone title with a 13-1 win over Albany (N.Y.)

Hagerstown 'A' won the PONY-14 Section Tournament title on Monday night with a 12-4 victory over Chambersburg in the championship round. Hagerstown 'A' and Chambersburg will both advance to the region tournament in Boardman, Ohio, which will start this Friday. “It is a team effort,” Hagerstown manager John Phillips said. “If somebody makes a mistake, the other 14 guys pick him up. Our run production was like last night. It started out slow, but then we picked it up. It would be nice to see what would happen if all 15 of them would hit well at one time.” Hagerstown was on top the whole way as it started off with two runs in the top of the first inning.