By Town Crier Staff Report

The Los Altos-Mountain View Pony Division All-Stars bowed out of the PONY Baseball Regional Tournament last Sunday in Santa Clara.

The team of 13- and 14-year-olds went 2-2 in the tournament, which featured top teams from all over Northern California, to finish fourth.

LA-MV opened the double-elimination competition with a 5-3 loss to Redding on July 30, dropping the local squad into the losers’ bracket.

LA-MV led Redding 3-0 after the first inning, thanks to Tim Busbin’s three-run homer, but allowed the opposition to score four runs in the second. Redding added an insurance run in the fifth.

LA-MV rebounded on Saturday with a come-from-behind 7-6 victory over Salinas.

Salinas took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run home run. After four innings, the margin had increased to 5-0. LA-MV broke out of a 10-inning scoreless streak with four runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. Salinas came back with a run in the bottom of the sixth, but LA-MV managed to hang on for the win.

On Sunday, LA-MV beat South San Francisco 8-3 behind a strong pitching performance from Jason Marshalla.

Teammate Mike Lawler broke a 1-all tie in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer. Two innings later, Mike Myers provided some insurance - and plenty of excitement - with a pinch-hit grand slam.

LA-MV’s winning streak came to an end later in the day, though, with an 8-2 loss to Pleasanton that eliminated the local team from the tourney.

After falling behind early, LA-MV scored two runs in the third inning to tie the score. But that would be all the production the team would get from its once-hot offense. Pleasanton pulled ahead with a run in the fourth then sealed the game with five more in the fifth and sixth.

LA-MV qualified for the regional event by winning the sectional tournament it hosted last month at Rosita Field in Los Altos.

The team defeated San Carlos 5-0 in the championship game. LA-MV scored four of its runs in the seventh inning.