Henriquez leads Bronx over Washington County (2024)

Michael Henriquez’s right arm got in the way of a good time for the Washington County All-Stars.

Henriquez, a 6-4, 200-pound righthander, allowed only three hits and two unearned runs over 6 1/3 innings, leading Bronx, N.Y., to a 5-3 victory over Washington County in the Pony League World Series on Sunday.

“That’s a typical performance by him,” said Bronx assistant coach Jeffrey Gutierrez. “He told me (Saturday) night that he wanted the ball. He wanted to pitch. I love when kids do that.”

Washington County was the last club in the 10-team field to make its series debut. If the host team is to make it back to the championship game this year, then it will have to win a series of elimination games, starting Monday (12:30 p.m.) against Bay County, Mich.

The Bronx, which has a 2-0 record, will play Tijuana, Mexico (1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Washington County made the game very interesting in the top of the seventh inning, scoring two runs on singles by Landon Conn (2-for-3) and Coen Phasupong combined with a pair of Bronx errors. Washington County had the potential tying run at the plate when Bronx reliever Misael Acosta induced a flyout to end the contest.

Acosta scored Bronx’s first run in the second inning and hit a solo home run in the third.

For Washington County, it was a game of missed opportunities. Four times it was able to get its leadoff batter on base but could cash that into only one run.

“We didn’t get any timely hitting,” lamented Washington County manager Andrew Wuenstel. “We struck out only four times, and when you don’t strike out you give yourself a chance to win, but we didn’t find any holes.”

The hard-throwing Henriquez walked two and struck out four.

Washington starter Logan DiSilvestro gave up three runs and four hits over 3 2/3 innings but his performance was better than the numbers. He exited with two outs in the fourth and his team trailing 3-1 with the Bronx ready to send up leadoff batter Angel Garcia.

“We took Logan out because I didn’t want him to face the top of their lineup three times,” Wuenstel explained. “We scouted them and know that the top of their order hits well, so we wanted to give them a different look.”

Washington County took a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Landon Trnavsky drew a leadoff walk, moved to second base on an errant pickoff throw and to third when Tristian Coney bounced out to third base. That Trnavsky would try to advance from second to third on a ground ball hit to the left side of the infield was a daring move, but it paid off one batter later. That’s when Conn popped out to second baseman Erick Nunez in shallow right field. Trnavsky did not try to tag and score on the play, but the Bronx fired the ball to home plate anyway. It sailed over the head of catcher Jeremias Perez, allowing Trnavsky to race home and score the game’s first run.

Bronx gained a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third when Garcia hit a double that scored Acosta and Justin Hernandez.

Acosta’s home run, just inside the left-field line, made it 3-1 and the Bronx scored two insurance runs in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Jeremy Puello and a double steal.

“We have a long road ahead of us,” Wuenstel said. “We have to come back prepared to win each pitch. Don’t think about what happened in the past and don’t think too far ahead.”