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Sports

Poway American Blanked in District 31 Title Game

Injury to pitcher Blake Wagenseller in second inning hurts team's chances as Encinitas National posts 10-0 victory.

A second-inning line drive to the forearm of his pitching arm forced Poway American All-Stars starter Blake Wagenseller to the sidelines in Sunday's District 31 Little League championship game, and Encinitas National took advantage, posting a 10-0 victory at Sage Canyon Park in Carmel Valley.

Poway lost a potent bat as well as Wagenseller's pitching skills, and a scoreless game soon turned into a 6-0 deficit. This unfortunate incident left PALL with few options in the bullpen and may have ultimately decided the game.

But with Mickey Moniak tossing a one-hit shutout and driving in six runs for Encinitas National, Poway still would have had its hands full. Moniak allowed only an infield single in the fifth to Javier Olivo and struck out nine Poway batters.

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Moniak had a double in the second, a three-run homer in the third–his third home run of the district tournament–and a ground-rule double in the sixth.

"It feels really good," said Moniak about his and his team's performance. "We've been working all year for this, and it came true."

Poway American coach Dave Miller and many of the fans on hand had anticipated a pitching duel between Wagenseller and Moniak.

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"We were looking forward to the epic match-up between Blake and Mickey," said Miller. "We had to pull him out for injury, meaning also that he could not come back into the game. So, not only did we lose one of the best pitchers in the county, we lost one of the best batters in the county, too.

"(The injury) pulled the rug out from under us. We tried to stay in it and fight as long as we could, and we did. We didn't get 10-run-ruled and played a good game."

Encinitas National advances to the Section 6 tournament beginning Saturday matching the winners in San Diego sections 31, 32, 33 and 70. District 70 will host the games in the Oceanside area.

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