Youth Scene: NHBA captures crown

The Newport Harbor Baseball Assn. 12-and-under all-stars won the Placentia Father’s Day Tournament completed Wednesday.

NHBA defeated Placentia, 14-8, in the final.

Simon Copeman pitched four innings to record the win, while Clay Liolios struck out five in the final three innings to get the save.

Trey Genova drove in a run in the first inning to open the scoring for the winners.

A five-run second inning erased a 2-1 deficit for NHBA, as Johnny Brigandi and Liolios had key hits to fuel the rally.

Genova had three hits and four runs batted in, while Liolios and Brigandi had two hits apiece.

Additional hits were produced by Copeman, Braham Duncan, Kyle Binford and Luke Hatfield.

NHBA swept its four pool-play games to advance to the final, scoring 55 runs in its five tournament games.

Luke Bashore hit two home runs and produced seven RBIs in the tournament.

Jack Bibb, Binford, Copeman and Liolios also homered for NHBA.

Chase Greer batted .400 in the tournament, while Brendan Duffy had a .545 on-base percentage.

In addition to his superb play at shortstop, Logan Pence pitched a gem in the opening win. He allowed one run and struck out five.

NHBA opens district play on Friday.

— Reader submission