Costa Mesa Pony Baseball 13U All-Stars advance to World Series

The Costa Mesa Pony Baseball 13U All-Stars have a special thing going.

Head coach Mario Ramirez believes it all starts with family. That’s the chant — “1-2-3, family” — the team uses at the end of each game.

“We’re a family, and we really believe that,” said Ramirez, who coached many players on the team to Little League District 62 titles in 2021 and 2023. “The parents get along really well. The kids, most of them went to school together, played baseball and other sports. It’s a family environment, they’ve got each other’s back.”

Now they’ve reached the pinnacle. The two words represent every baseball player’s dream: World Series.

Costa Mesa will compete in the Pony-13 World Series, which begins Friday in Carlsbad, as the No. 1 overall seed.

The Costa Mesa Pony 13U All-Stars celebrate after winning the Super Region tournament on July 9.

(Courtesy of Terry Lee)

The local boys open at 9 a.m. Friday against a team from Cleveland at Aviara Community Park. If they’re victorious, they’ll continue in the winner’s bracket Saturday at 4 p.m. at Calavera Community Park against either Monterrey, Mexico or Corpus Christi, Texas.

Southern California teams from Long Beach and Carlsbad, along with international teams from Puerto Rico and the Philippines, are also in the double-elimination tournament.

Costa Mesa catcher Rylan Diaz said the team has fought to get here.

“We’ve been down four, five runs in the first inning,” Rylan said. “But we just never quit. We’ve always had a goal in mind, and that’s getting to the World Series and winning the World Series. This is like our last dance, pretty much, and why quit when you can keep fighting?”

Costa Mesa’s 13U All-Stars have won 10 straight games in the journey, Ramirez said. After winning the Region tournament, Costa Mesa finished second in the Super Region tournament despite losing the first game there 9-1 to Simi Valley.

Costa Mesa won six straight games in the loser’s bracket to get to a rematch to Simi Valley, winning that contest 4-2 on July 9 to clinch the second automatic bid to the West Zone tournament.

Kellen Mazur has been a key pitcher for the Costa Mesa Pony 13U All-Stars.

(Courtesy of Terry Lee)

In the West Zone tournament, hosted by West Hills, Costa Mesa went undefeated.

“Through this 10-0 run, we’ve been behind some games and played some very tough teams like Simi Valley, South Bay and Long Beach,” Ramirez said. “They’ve kept the games close, and we’ve come out on top. That’s just a testament to their hard work, their dedication and their trust in one another.”

Kellen Mazur leads a deep pitching staff that also includes players like Micah Kim, John Molina and Aidan Ramos, Ramirez’s son.

Kellen’s battery-mate knows what makes Mazur, the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-2, so effective.

“His fastball is by far the fastest on the team,” Rylan Diaz said. “I think he gets up to 79 miles an hour, which flies by. Then he has a curveball that is disgusting and bites super-hard. Then he has his trick pick, which is his knuckleball, and that always fools hitters. The way his knuckleball dances, it’s almost unhittable.”

Aidan Ramos is the leadoff hitter for the Costa Mesa Pony 13U All-Stars.

(Courtesy of Terry Lee)

Costa Mesa is also no slouch in the hitting department. Aidan Ramos and Cade Smith occupy the first two spots in the lineup, and Ramirez calls them the team’s rabbits.

Power-hitting Ethan Mitton follows as the No. 3 hitter, with John Molina as the cleanup hitter.

“He’s our big boy,” Ramirez said of Ethan’s role. “He’s been coming through clutch and hitting those boys in. I know he just licks his chops when he sees those two guys on base. I just tell him, ‘Do a job man, do what you do and hit these rabbits in.’ He’s been doing a great job at that.”

Other key contributors for Costa Mesa include Bodhi Tibbetts, Braedon Becker, Dylan Hugen, Jackson Burke, Jordan Lee, Nolan Diaz, Quinn Douglas and Ryland Mason.

Cory Hugen, Mike Diaz and Ryan Sage join Ramirez are on the coaching staff.

Dylan Hugen has helped the Costa Mesa Pony 13U All-Stars win 10 straight games.

(Courtesy of Terry Lee)

Ramirez knows that he can call on any player on the 15-athlete roster, and that’s where the family aspect comes in.

The boys are anxiously awaiting the World Series, and understandably so. It’s the second Costa Mesa team to make it this far; the 10U Pony All-Stars won the World Series in Louisiana last year.

“I feel like it’s going to be a great experience for us,” Aidan Ramos said. “We’re already a big family, but I just feel like it’s going to bring us more close. The teams we’re going to face, it’s going to be really good competition for us and make us better baseball players.”