The recipe for Heartwell PONY success is becoming clear: take the lead then play good D.

Like they did against Redondo on Thursday, Heartwell scored early runs (three in the first two innings) and flashed some leather on the way to a 7-2 victory over Santa Monica in the Sectional semifinal.  The infield of Alex Orozco, J.P. Crawford, Johnny Anderson and Matt Merriman combined for two beautiful double plays to halt Santa Monica rallies, and left fielder Kyle Clary had a putout in the fourth that would make ESPN’s Web Gems.

“These kids know each other and work together so well,” said coach John Yakel.  “The defense just seems to come naturally to them.  This team doesn’t have a lot of ego… they all respect each others talent.”

Offensively, the Heartwell attack got going immediately when leadoff hitter Crawford slapped a single and then stole second and third.  Anderson knocked in the run and then turned the double play in the top of the second.  Heartwell also did a good job of taking advantage of Santa Monica mistakes, scoring three of their first four runs on throwing errors.

Pitcher Richy Winfield did a fantastic job keeping the ball down and inducing those ground balls that kept the defense on its toes.

The play of the game came in the fourth inning with two outs and two runners on for Santa Monica.  A single through the left side rolled to left fielder Clary, who scooped the ball and fired it home to catcher J.P. Yakel.  He caught it on the fly as the runner was coming for home and lunged to tag the sliding would-be run.

Heartwell rode the momentum and scored in the next inning.  Then in the bottom of the sixth after another fine double play, they added two more runs to effectively end the game.

“It’s going to be a good game,” said Yakel of the Championship match up with Long Beach set for today at 5:30pm.  “It’s going to come down to walks and defensive mistakes.  The team that doesn’t have ‘em will win it.”