HART TEAM'S PONYING UP FOR THE BIG GAME : COACH SAYS EXPERIENCE SHOULD SEE THEM THROUGH TOURNAMENT DEBUT.Byline: Bryan Winchell Special to the Daily News Experience is one of those intangibles in sports that separates champions from runners-up. Dave Scripture, who manages the Hart Pony Mustang mustang [Sp. mesteño=a stray], small feral horse of the W United States. Mustangs are descended from escaped Native American horses, which in turn were descended from horses of North African blood, brought to the New World by the Spanish c.1500. (ages 9-10) All-Star ``A'' team, understands this. The team has lots of experience behind it, having won the Pony Pinto pinto Spotted horse, also called paint, piebald, skewbald, and other terms to describe variations in colour and markings. The American Indian ponies of the western U.S. were often pintos. Most pure-breed associations refuse to register horses with pinto colouring. World Series two years ago and the Continental American Baseball Association (CABA CABA Children Affected By AIDS CABA Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, Argentina) CABA Continental Automated Buildings Association CABA Continental Amateur Baseball Association CABA Cuban American Bar Association ) World Series last year. But when it enters the Pony Zone tournament tonight at 7:30, it will be its first Pony tournament game this summer. The team got an automatic bid to the tournament because it is hosting it at the William S William, crown prince of Germany William or Frederick William, 1882–1951, crown prince of Germany, son of William II. In World War I he commanded (1914) an army on the Western Front and was nominal commander in the German attack . Hart Pony Baseball/Softball complex. However, the team hasn't been resting on its laurels all summer. It has played in five invitational in·vi·ta·tion·al adj. Restricted to invited participants: an invitational golf tournament. n. An event, especially a sports tournament, restricted to invited participants. Adj. 1. tournaments, going 21-2 and winning three of them. ``We put them in hot spots hot spots acute moist dermatitis. intentionally so they know how to deal with it,'' Scripture said. ``I firmly believe any sport is a mental game and if we can teach these kids not to look at it as pressure but as an opportunity just to have fun, you'll see the pressure goes away.'' The team has played practice games with 11-year-old teams as another way of preparing for harder throwing pitchers and bigger hitters. And in batting practice, Scripture and coach Wendell Worth throw around 75 mph and mix in curveballs. ``We try to throw as hard as we can to the kids so that if there's a kid up there who's throwing hard, they don't get intimidated in·tim·i·date tr.v. in·tim·i·dat·ed, in·tim·i·dat·ing, in·tim·i·dates 1. To make timid; fill with fear. 2. To coerce or inhibit by or as if by threats. by him,'' Scripture said. On Sunday, Scripture and coaches Worth and Jeff Valaika got a positive sign that the preparation for the Zone tournament is paying off when the team defeated Sylmar 15-3. Sylmar had lost by only one run to Camarillo, which will be in the Zone tournament. The team hasn't just been preparing this summer, though. When it won the Pinto World Series, it didn't have to travel far, playing in San Pedro. So last summer, the team traveled to Charles City, Iowa Charles City is a city in Floyd County, Iowa, United States. The population was 7,812 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Floyd CountyGR6. Charles City is a significant commercial and transportation center for the area, located on U.S. , to play in the CABA World Series. ``The purpose was to get them comfortable in a strange area,'' Scripture said. ``And boy, they couldn't have been more comfortable.'' While the team feels ready, it will have to overcome one big setback. Starting pitcher Noun 1. starting pitcher - (baseball) a pitcher who starts in a baseball game baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; Mike Scripture fractured his shoulder in a game a few weeks ago and won't be able to play. Left-hander Brandon Bradsher will start on the mound tonight. While the team's starting pitching and defense have kept it in games, its offense has been instrumental in winning them. Through the 23 games, the team was batting .390 with 14 home runs. And while playing the Zone tournament in front of family and friends will be pressure-filled, Scripture knows his team has been there before. ``A lot of it is being relaxed, the kids have been in so many hot spots that it's unbelievable how relaxed they are,'' Scripture said. ``I get more nervous sometimes than they do.'' The team is: Matt Aidem (P/1B), Jordan Alexander (RF), Christopher Berry (3B), Brandon Bradsher (P), Richard Cadena (3B), Ian Feldman (C), Derek Harms (CF), Wes Pascolla (CF/3B), Mike Scripture (P), Bobby Schlender (P), Chris Valaika (SS) and Daniel Worth (2B). CAPTION(S): 3 Photos Photo: (1) Brandon Bradsher works on his bunting bunting, common name for small, plump birds of the family Fringillidae (finch family). Among the American buntings are the indigo bunting, in which the summer plumage of the male reflects sunlight as a rich, metallic blue; the painted bunting, or nonpareil ( duringa recent Mustang team practice. (2) Richard Cadena dives for a ball during recent practice. The Mustangs will play their first Pony tournament game tonight. (3) The T-shirts tell it all: The Hart Pony Mustang All-Star ``A'' team has no intention of losing the summer's first tournament game tonight. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News |
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