Bronco All-Stars triumph

CORONA ? If there’s one thing that Thursday night’s 12-7 Region Tournament-opening win over La Costa proved, it’s that the Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. Bronco All-Stars won’t be intimidated.

Newport Harbor battled back from two early deficits. It scored five runs in the second inning, thanks to consecutive hits by Christian Ochoa, Daniel Albert, Brett Parker and Nick McCann.

Newport Harbor (15-3 in the postseason), meets Dana Point tonight at 7:30 at Santana Park. It’s the fourth time the two teams will have met this season. Dana Point has won two of the previous three.

“Good teams win when they’re not playing well,” Tony Swies said. “And that was the case [Thursday]. This was a game where our pitching wasn’t very good. We got behind in the count a lot, but Ochoa played well at catcher and we had some key hits.”

With Newport Harbor up, 6-4, in the second inning, the team got a key two-out single to center from Tyler Kiehnle that drove in Matt Carpenter and Jake Stowell.

La Costa, based in Carlsbad, got two runs back in the third inning.

Then the score stayed the same until the bottom of the fifth.

Ethan Cochran and Ochoa led off with back-to-back singles, then Hamilton Randle reached on an error.

With one out, McCann lined a shot to the center-field fence. A hustling McCann circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run, putting Newport Harbor up, 12-6.

Newport Harbor closer A.J. Swies came on to pitch the final two innings, fanning five and allowing just one hit.

Swies combined with starting pitcher McCann (eight strikeouts in three innings) and Carpenter (four in two scoreless innings) to get 17 of 21 outs via the strikeout.

Tony Swies said his son’s relief pitching showed focus.

“A guy like A.J., even though he struggled at the plate [hitless in four at-bats], can win with his pitching,” Tony Swies said.

McCann was three for three with three runs scored to pace Newport Harbor’s nine-hit attack.

Ochoa went two for three and scored twice.

Parker reached base three times, including one hit.

Carpenter scored twice.

Albert, Randle and Cochran scored Newport Harbor’s other three runs.

La Costa had five hits.

Two La Costa pitchers combined to strike out 12, including nine by Stephen Gonzalves, who accounted for nine punchouts in 3 1/3 innings of relief.

Both Newport Harbor losses to Dana Point came in games that did not determine which team advanced in a tournament.

Newport Harbor beat Dana Point in the title game of the Dana Point Summer Classic.

The two teams have developed a healthy rivalry.

“We play Dana Point and we are excited about that, to say the least,” Tony Swies said.