Newport Harbor routs Portland, advances to West Zone tournament semifinals

Reporting from whittier —  The Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. wave keeps growing, and it’s leaving the best of the West Coast in its wake.

The 12-and-under All-Stars of the Bronco division flooded Portland (Ore.) 17-0 Friday night at York Field in Whittier, advancing to the PONY West Zone tournament semifinals.

The Newport bats refused to accept a rare, cool summer night in Whittier, heating to scorching levels in a five-inning, mercy-shortened romp.

Nine different batters scored for Newport, including six in a two-inning barrage to open the game. Leadoff man Jack Davey patiently forced Portland’s pitcher into a walk, and two groundouts got him to third base. A wild pitch allowed him to stroll home to open the scoring.

Newport pitcher Brock Liolios set the defensive tone early, striking out two with only three pitches each. It set the stage for an explosive second inning.

First, Adam Martin curved a liner down the third-base line, then scored on an identical hit by Walker Vaicek. Another Portland wild pitch sent Vaicek home, and Davey launched a double into the right-center gap to drive Parker Purcell home.

Many teams would settle for a 4-0 lead this early. Dimitri Sudsiko wanted more. The Newport catcher whacked a dinger over the 225-foot left field wall, extending the lead to 6-0.

“You never expect a night like this to happen,” head coach Ryan Shea said. “The team was that perfect level of loose tonight, and we fed off it.”

Sudsiko finished two for three with the homer, two RBIs and two runs. Davey produced three runs and an RBI off a three for three evening.

By the third inning, the reserves joined the hit parade. Aiden Callahan slid under the tag after yet another wild pitch, and Martin stole home after the catcher fumbled a pitch. Nursing an eight-run lead, Liolios refused any complacency on the mound.

He continued fanning batters, throwing five strikeouts in a complete game. He faced some minor trouble in the third inning, finding two runners in scoring position. He punched out the cleanup hitter to escape the inning unscathed.

Davey and Sudsiko took advantage of more catcher issues for easy runs in the fourth, ballooning the margin to 10-0. A host of pinch-hitters scored to reach the final difference.

Liolios retired the side in the fourth, and Evan Hesse secured the save in the fifth to activate the mercy rule.

With its first loss in the double-elimination tournament, Portland faces Pacific Grove (Calif.) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Newport Harbor awaits the winner of that at 5 p.m. for a potential berth in the West Zone championship game.