Stephenson key in West win San Pedro knocks off Boynton Beach; faces Moscow today

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BANGOR – Daniel Stephenson wasn’t very happy with himself as he stalked back to his team’s dugout on a warm, sunny Sunday afternoon.

The righthander from San Pedro, Calif., had just walked the leadoff hitter, given up a one-out RBI double by Dolan Owens, and hit a batter to put his team in a 1-0 hole early.

Rather than sulk, Stephenson concentrated on the game at hand.

“I went to the corner of the dugout and just tried to sit down and visualize what I wanted to do,” he said.

The strategy paid off as Stephenson not only settled down on the mound, he led the way offensively as West region champion San Pedro dispatched South champ Boynton Beach, Fla., 7-1 on the opening day of the Senior League World Series at Mansfield Stadium.

San Pedro is now 23-1 with a 10 a.m. game against Moscow, Russia, today in the tournament for 15- and 16-year-olds. Boynton Beach (17-2) meets Canada at 5 p.m.

Stephenson went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double in the first and a solo home run in the third, but it was his work on the mound that figured even more prominently.

The tall starter allowed only three hits over the next six innings to post the complete-game victory with a nine-strikeout, six-walk effort.

“Usually I know right away if I’m going to have it or not,” Stephenson said. “My offspeed stuff was working really well. I didn’t have a lot of pop on my fastball, so I mixed the other stuff in a lot to get them off balance.”

Matt Garcia led off the first for San Pedro with a single.

Two outs later, Stephenson’s double put runners at second and third for Steve Taylor, who singled to right-center to score both runners.

San Pedro added four more in the third on a Daniel Lebetsamer leadoff triple, a passed ball, Stephenson’s 340-foot homer to left, an error, a Grant Harper double, another passed ball, and Jake Accetta’s RBI single.

The last run came courtesy of an error, wild pitch, passed ball, and Daniel Sindicich’s RBI single in the fourth.

“This is just like how we went through our tournament: nice and easy,” said head coach Mike Sindicich, Daniel’s father. “Just hit the ball hard, move your baserunners, and get good pitching.”

Owens was Boynton Beach’s leading hitter with the double and a single.

SAN PEDRO, CALIF. 7, BOYNTON BEACH, FLA. 1

Boynton Beach (0-1) San Pedro (1-0)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Orr, c 2 1 0 0 Garcia, 2b 4 2 0

Griffiths, cf 3 0 1 0 Lebetsamer, lf 4 0

Owens, 3b-ss 3 0 2 1 Sindicich, cf-1b 3 1

Vento, p-3b 2 0 0 0 Stephenson, p 3 2 1

Howard, ss-p 2 0 0 0 Taylor, 3b 2 0 2

Maldonado, 1b 2 0 0 0 Solis, rf 1 0

Arena, 2b 3 0 0 0 a-Luna 1 0 0 0

Souza, rf 1 0 0 0 Cuneo, c 2 0 0

Wright, rf 2 0 1 0 b-Lomanaco 0 1 0

Wilson, lf 1 0 0 0 Luera, c 1 0 0

Meaney, lf 1 0 0 0 Harper, rf 2 1 0

c-Herring 1 0 0 0 Whitt, rf-cf 1 0 0

Accetta, 1b 2 0 1 1

Dorado, ss 2 0 0 0

d-Lomonaco 1 0 1 0

Totals 23 1 4 1 Totals 29 7 10 5

a-grounded our for Taylor in fifth, b-ran for Cuneo in third, c-struck out for Meaney in seventh, d-singled for Dorado in sixth

Boynton Beach 100 000 0 ? 1

San Pedro 204 100 x ? 7

E? Owens, Howard; Stephenson, Dorado; LOB? Boynton 5; San Pedro 3; 2B? Owens; Stephenson, Harper; 3B? Lebetsamer; HR? Stephenson (5); DP? Owens-Arena-Maldonado, Howard-Arena-Maldonado; Stephenson-Dorado-Accetta, Dorado-Garcia-Accetta

Boynton Beach IP H R ER BB SO

Vento (L) 5 9 7 4 0 5

Howard 1 1 0 0 0 1

San Pedro IP H R ER BB SO

Stephenson (W) 7 4 1 1 2 9

HBP? Maldonado (Stephenson), Vento (Stephenson); WP? Vento; Stephenson; PB? Orr 3; T? 1:46; ATT? 208