The Hollister Junior League All-Stars lost 12-0 to Los Altos on
Monday night, and will play Almaden tonight to see which team
advances to Wednesday’s championship final; The Babe Ruth 16- to
18-year-old All-Stars were eliminated from the Central California
State Tournament on Monday after falling to Hanford
SAN JOSE
Trailing by a narrow 1-0 margin after five innings of play, the Hollister Junior League All-Stars ended up losing 12-0 to Los Altos on Monday in the Section 5 All-Star Tournament semifinals at Willow Glen High School in San Jose.
It is Hollister’s first loss this season.
Hollister, which has already played three days in a row, will play a fourth straight game tonight in the semifinal round of the elimination bracket against Almaden.
It will be the fourth time in two years Hollister has battled Almaden. Last year, Almaden defeated Hollister twice in the Section 5 tournament, while Hollister avenged one of those losses on Sunday when it trumped Almaden 14-8 in eight innings.
The local 13- and 14-year-old All-Stars will need to upend Almaden one more time on Tuesday night if it plans on avenging its loss to Los Altos, which exploded for 11 runs over the sixth and seventh innings on Monday.
See this week’s installment of The San Benito Score below with youth baseball highlights.
“A lot of walks, and we didn’t hit the ball,” manager Todd Freitas said. “Only three hits.
“If you only get three hits, you’re gonna have a tough time winning.”
Freitas also said Los Altos’ pitcher threw well, and had a strong curveball that Hollister didn’t adjust to.
But after Hollister’s 6-1 win against Gilroy and Sunday’s aforementioned victory over Almaden, Freitas is hoping the 12-run loss to Los Altos will be a wake-up call.
“That’s what we’re really hoping for,” Freitas said.
“When someone knocks you down, it’s fun to see how they react.”
Richie Beltran is expected to start on the mound for Hollister tonight against Almaden.
First pitch is at 5:30 p.m., at Willow Glen High School in San Jose. The victor will advance to Wednesday’s championship final against Los Altos, the District 44 representative.
National 9-10
The Hollister National 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars lost 3-2 to District 59 on Monday night in the semifinal round of the Section 5 All-Star Tournament in Santa Cruz.
Hollister National now moves into the semifinal round of the elimination bracket, where it will face District 12 representative Saratoga on Tuesday night.
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz.
Babe Ruth 16-18
The San Benito Babe Ruth 16- to 18-year-old All-Stars were eliminated from the Central California State Tournament on Monday after compiling a 1-2 record.
Playing in Sunday’s quarterfinals against host Modesto, which finished runner-up at the World Series last year, San Benito lost 11-2 to move into the elimination bracket, where it then fell in its first game to Hanford by a 12-4 margin.
“We had a couple of bad innings,” manager Justin Patton said.
Despite ending on a sour note, San Benito opened the state tournament strong with an 11-7 victory over Madera.
San Benito actually trailed Madera 7-2 in the fifth inning, only to score two runs in the sixth, three in the seventh and four more in the eighth to steal the four-run win.
