A Brownsville 14-and-under team won the Dick’s Sporting Goods PONY League World Series Championship game Wednesday night in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, defeating a Youngstown, Ohio, team 11-10 and becoming the first Pony League team from the Rio Grande Valley to take home the championship trophy.

The team featured player’s from across the Valley playing as a Brownsville team and representing the combined Brownsville Pony League and Wild Pitch League that played out of Morningside Park. When the season ended earlier this summer, the combined league picked an all-star team to compete in the Pony League World Series. The team included players from all over the Valley who had come to Brownsville to play, said Minerva M. Pena, who has been involved with the Pony Leagues in Brownsville for the past 30 years.

“These kids made us proud. This is not an easy thing to do. They were going up against some awesome players,” Pena said.

Head coach Ruben Lopez said he had been getting calls and texts ever since the championship game from friends who are normally quiet congratulating him and the team on their rise through the loser’s bracket to win the championship trophy.

“We’re the first guys taking the trophy home here in the Valley, so it’s very special for us,” Lopez said Thursday from Alton.

He said the players have been savoring their victory, letting the quality of their play speak for Brownsville and the Valley at the tournament.

In the championship game, Brownsville scored two runs in the top of the eighth and put the game away on a championship-clinching catch by center fielder Jorge Garza Jr. in the bottom of the eighth.

Alexis Lopez led the offensive charge for Brownsville, going 4-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBI. Ruben Lopez added three hits in five at-bats, with four RBI and three runs scored.

After winning a 10 inning contest to open its World Series against San Jose, Calif., Brownsville got sent to the loser’s bracket with a 3-2 loss to Johnstown, Pa. It downed Manchester, N.H., then rattled off back-to-back wins against Johnstown to advance to the finals. The win in the championship was the first loser’s bracket team to win the Pony League World Series since 2001.

Players on the championship team included Chris Ramos, Emilio Herrera, Jai Arenas, Ruben Lopez, Miguel Soto, JC Garza, Alexis Lopez, Jeremiah Vela, Javier Garza, Nehemias Garcia, Rudy Gomez, Zavier Garcia, Jorge Garza, Etziel Gonzalez and Jesus Rios.

JC Garza and Jose Garcia were assistant coaches.


[email protected]