The Pirates of Los Altos Pony Baseball claimed the Mustang 1 Division championship May 27 at Moffett Field in Mountain View.
The Pirates, a group of 9- and 10-year-olds from Los Altos and Mountain View, beat the Indians 10-7 in the title game.
The Pirates found themselves down 6-0 when they got up to bat in the bottom of the second inning. However, they got right back into the game by erupting with five runs.
Brett Johnson led off with a single and stole second. Philip Giammona then doubled to right, scoring Johnson. Giammona stole second and scored on Max Boissevain's single. The Indians walked the next four batters - Douglas Gibson, Andrew Kaneshioro, Kenny Treadwell and Austin Kim - which allowed Boissevain and Gibson to score. With the bases loaded, Micah Hafich hit a grounder that drove in Kaneshiro.
Reliever James Davis held the Indians at bay in the top of the third, and the Pirates took the lead in the bottom of the inning.
They scored four runs to go up 9-6. Aaron Landrith got the Pirates going with a double. Davis, Ramin Morshed and Johnson drew walks and Landrith came home. Giammona and Boissevain followed with ground outs, but scored Davis and Morshed, respectively. Johnson then made it home on a passed ball.
The Indians struck back in the fourth with a run, but it could have been worse. The Indians were in position to add more runs, loading the bases with one out, but Morshed came on in relief and ended the threat. He closed out the game by striking out five of the final eight batters.
Morshed also helped the Pirates' cause by scoring in the fifth. He walked, stole second and third and then went home on a passed ball.
The Pirates also overcame a six-run deficit in their first playoff game, putting together a late rally to beat the Rangers 9-8. The Pirates then whipped the White Sox 15-7 in the semifinals. Daniel Black produced three hits against the White Sox.
"The character of our team was to never give up," coach Mark Landrith said. "My assistant coaches and I could not have asked for a better group of kids."
The Pirates lost their first two games of the season and then compiled a 10-1-3 record the rest of the way. One of the Pirates' strong points was pitching, as the team had six hurlers who combined to hold opponents to an average of 1.3 runs per inning.
This was the inaugural year of the Mustang 1 Division, which was created for first-year players who are getting adjusted to kid-pitch baseball.