Wins over weekend propel team into tonight’s semis
Rocklin – The tougher the competition, the better they play. With one last goal to accomplish – a Division 2 championship – the Hollister American 9-10-year-old All-Stars continue to raise the level of their play.
After earning its spot in the equivalent of the Northern California championship – the pinnacle for this level of Little League baseball – by winning the Section 5 title, Hollister American loudly announced its presence by dominating its first two foes in Rocklin. The All-Stars thumped Peach Bowl (Yuba City) 20-5 on Saturday and followed up with a 6-0 victory over Wood Creek (Roseville) the next day.
Hollister American plays Deer Park (Fresno) tonight with a berth in the division championship game on the line.
Entering the tournament, Hollister American players knew their opponents had also advanced through their section fields, and therefore expected stiff competition. But to this point, no one can keep up with the surging local All-Stars.
Against Wood Creek, Hollister American scored early and often, receiving multiple hits up and down its lineup to secure the blowout win. Jordan Lopes went 4-for-5 with four singles, and Josh George and Robert Soto each contributed three hits.
“I thought they were going to be challenging,” third baseman Austin Wahl said of Wood Creek, “but we just did our thing. I don’t know. All our hard work paid off.”
In the second round, Hollister American used a sparkling performance from pitcher Soto to blank a team many had thought was the favorite. Despite registering just eight hits of its own, the All-Stars used their base-running savvy to confuse Wood Creek and score four runs in the sixth to lock up the win.
Hollister American had taken a 2-0 lead in the fourth with a pair of walks, two hits and a passed ball. Tony Diaz came up with a two-out hit to drive in the second run.
Having Soto mowing down another opponent allowed the offense time to kick into gear. The tall left-hander tossed a complete-game four-hitter, registering five strikeouts against just one walk.
“I was just throwing strikes and threw the ball by them,” Soto said.
Asked to describe the significance of that win, Soto said “big. That’s one of the best teams in the league, in the state tournament.”
Added manager Robert Fabing: “We kind of shocked them. They were a team that was supposed to win this thing. We beat a pretty good team that just walked through their first two tournaments, so I was proud of that.”
Hollister American has done a pretty fair job of walking through its tournaments, too. The All-Stars have piled up a 12-1 postseason record thus far and take a seven-game winning streak into tonight’s semifinal.
“I think we’re in a very good spot,” Fabing said. “We’ve been swinging the bat, obviously, pretty well. We’ve been able to manufacture some runs, do some things on the bases and come up with the big hits.”
Said Wahl: “Our chances are pretty high. We’re coming in strong and I think we’re going to win this because our pitchers are doing great and we’re all moving along.”
With the showdown looming against Wood Creek, Lopes said nothing builds confidence like winning.
“It feels good,” Lopes said of the 2-0 division start. “We have good focus and we’ll just work hard and try to get a ‘W.'”
The winner of tonight’s 7:30pm semifinal will enter Thursday’s championship game and will need to be defeated twice to be eliminated.
Hollister American’s manager underscored the importance of the Wood Creek contest: “We have a huge game (tonight), biggest game of the year,” Fabing said. “We’re going to go play with some energy and give it all we got.”
