The Mon Valley Pony baseball team saw its Pony League World Series journey come to an end Monday morning with an 11-4 loss against Palmview, Texas, but the team left with their heads held high.

Despite giving up four runs in the bottom of the sixth and entering the final frame of the elimination game trailing 11-2, Mon Valley fought until the very end and grabbed two more runs through a Demaris Tolliver single.

It didn’t change the result of the game, but that stretch perfectly symbolized the resilience of the Mon Valley squad.

“They kept fighting to the end, and that’s what I wanted to see,” Mon Valley coach Jason Plymire said. “They fought till the end, and that’s really been the definition of this team. They never gave up, and we’re proud of them.”

Mon Valley’s loss was its second of the tournament against the South Zone champions, as both teams opened the Pony League World Series in a 6-2 ballgame. The Mon Valley team fought in that contest, and they also clawed their way back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat Long Beach, Calif., 7-4, on Sunday.

Now, the squad including AJ Watson (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon), Ben Lilley (Brownsville Pony, Albert Gallatin), Braylon Schoch (Brownsville Pony, Brownsville), Camden Matusik (Rostraver Pony, Belle Vernon), Cam Black (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon), Connor David (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold), Cooper Cetera (Brownsville Pony, Brownsville), Tolliver (Donora Pony, Ringgold), Derek Dunlevy (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold), Jack Crovak (Elizabeth Forward), Jesse Sobczak (Rostraver Pony, Belle Vernon), Kennedy Nash (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold), Lucas Kear (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon), Michael Green (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold) and Zach Plymire (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon) has seen its improbable run come to an end.

“I hope they realize that they can play with the best in the world,” Plymire said. “That Texas team is really good. They have a lot of pitching depth. We gave it all we had, and that’s all we could do. … I really hope that these boys realize that they’re some of the best in the world, and I also hope that they realize there are some really good players that they can work towards as well.”

Elba Gonzalez earned the win on the mound for Palmview, which will move on to play Chinese Taipei in another elimination game at 10 a.m. Tuesday. He went 2⅓ innings, allowing four hits and two runs. Alex Bocanegra entered the game in relief and went the remaining 4⅔ frames, striking out seven and allowing no hits until the seventh inning. He also finished 2 for 3 with an RBI at the plate.

For Mon Valley, Watson was charged with the loss on the mound, going three innings and allowing five hits and five runs. Tolliver posted the two RBIs and Zach Plymire added one more on a hit.

Palmview wasted no time getting on the board with an early run after a scoreless half inning from Mon Valley. After Gael Zambrano singled and reached second on a balk, Alejandro Leon hit a run-scoring single to left field to bring a run in early and make it 1-0.

But once again, Mon Valley flashed its resilience with an immediate response.

Crovak ripped a single to left to open the second inning and moved to second on a balk before Nash hit a hard ball back at Gonzalez that hit his glove and rolled into no man’s land in the infield. That error allowed Crovak to round third and cross home plate to tie the contest.

Palmview then regained the lead in the home half of the frame with three runs.

Omar Cantu managed to score on a passed ball, Edgar Quintanilla’s double scored a run, and Zambrano’s single scored Quintanilla to give the Texas squad a 4-1 advantage after two.

Mon Valley again wouldn’t go away as Black drew a walk before Sobczak singled and Watson laid down a perfect bunt that allowed him to load the bases with one out.

That brought Zach Plymire to the plate, and the shortstop hit a chopper to third that resulted in an error and the second run of the contest for Mon Valley.

With the score at 4-2 in the top of the third, Gonzalez saw his day come to an end. Bocanegra inherited three baserunners and a 1-1 count against Crovak, who proceeded to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to retire the side.

The South Zone champions wasted no time matching that run as Bocanegra made an immediate impact on offense as well. He led Palmview off with a double to center field and reached third on a passed ball to set up Axel Pulido’s sacrifice fly that made it 5-2.

Texas plated another run in the bottom of the fourth as Zambrano doubled to bring Joaquin Barrientos home and bring the score to 6-2.

Bocanegra continued to dominate the game into the fifth frame, striking out the side on the mound before managing another hit to lead off the home half. His second hit came on his second plate appearance and the second pitch he faced in those two at-bats.

The relief pitcher came around to score after stealing second, advancing to third on an error and crossing home plate on a passed ball to make the score 7-2 after five.

After forcing a groundout to open the sixth frame, Bocanegra exited the mound. His line read three innings with no hits or walks with three strikeouts. Replacing him was Barrientos, who managed to get through pinch hitters Cetera and Dunlevy to retire the side.

Dunlevy toed the rubber in the bottom of the sixth as Palmview added four more runs in the frame. Quintanilla, Zambrano, Leon and Javier Garza all managed to score on five hits.

With the score reading 11-2 in favor of Palmview, Mon Valley entered the seventh inning looking to do whatever they could. The gritty squad managed to pull back two runs on a Tolliver single to end their run in the tournament.

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