The Brentwood Blast, comprising players age 13, won the PONY Division Central Valley District Championship last weekend at Bel Passi Fields in Modesto.

The Blast played shorthanded, fielding only nine players, but led by strong pitching from Ethan Heinrich and timely hits by Connor Blair, opened with a 8-1 victory over the host team from Bel Passi.

A 5-4 loss to the Ceres Blaze in game two set up a must-win clash against its own Brentwood PONY Travel All Stars in game three. Stirling Strong dominated on the mound, throwing five shutout innings, and Alex Zaragoza and Arturo Torres notched two hits each. Ryan Perry added a hit to help the Blast win 10-0, which set up a rematch against the team from Ceres for the championship game.

Heinrich again took the mound, throwing four strong innings, followed by Matthew Petures’ two innings, and the game was closed out by Ethan Marchetti to secure a 4-2 victory for the Blast. Petures, Marchetti, Thornton and Blair drilled two hits each in the championship game.