Hollister American’s run ends in Section 5 Championship
Garrett Ciuk, of Santa Clara Briarwood, struck out 15 batters at
the Oakridge Little League in San Jose Sunday, and paced his squad
to a 5-3 victory against Hollister American in the Section 5
Championship.
Hollister American, Division 9 champions in the 11- and
12-year-old division, brought the tying run to the plate in the
last inning.
Hollister American’s run ends in Section 5 Championship
Garrett Ciuk, of Santa Clara Briarwood, struck out 15 batters at the Oakridge Little League in San Jose Sunday, and paced his squad to a 5-3 victory against Hollister American in the Section 5 Championship.
Hollister American, Division 9 champions in the 11- and 12-year-old division, brought the tying run to the plate in the last inning.
Trailing 5-2 in the sixth, Robert Soto and Marco Cosio each singled to start, and Soto later scored on a wild pitch at the plate, cutting the deficit to two. Ciuk, though, settled down to get out of the inning.
“That kid is one of the best lefties in Northern California and we knew that going in,” manager Robert Fabing said. “He gets it and deals.
“We hit him. We had our chances, but give them credit … With that lefty on the mound, it’s a tough one.”
Hollister’s lefty, Robert Soto, threw 3 and 2/3 innings, striking out four. He gave up five runs – two earned – on just four hits.
Hollister American committed four errors, however.
“The errors killed us, and that’s baseball,” Fabing said.
Hollister lost by the same 5-3 score to Briarwood Friday in the semifinals, but they beat Union 6-0 Saturday behind a one-hitter from Cosio to set up Sunday’s championship rematch.
“This bunch of kids,” Fabing said, “they won three district championships, second in the section as 12’s, and they won the state championship as 10’s. I love these guys. They’re a good bunch of kids.
“But it’s tougher as 12’s. You’ve got a target on your back.”
Hollister National falls to Scotts Valley in Section 5 tourney
The Hollister National 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars were trying to battle their way back through the elimination bracket of the Section 5 Tournament last weekend in Campbell, but unfortunately fell to Scotts Valley in the consolation semifinals, 11-10.
Hollister would load the bases with two outs in the sixth, but couldn’t plate the tying run in the end.
“It was a good tournament. It was a good team,” manager Anthony Sotelo said of his squad, which won the District 9 championship earlier this month. “We just happened to fall short twice to the same team.”
Babe Ruth 13’s fall, 14’s remain alive
The San Benito Babe Ruth 14-year-old All-Stars sat in the championship final at The Pinnacle’s press time Wednesday, awaiting the Arroyo Grande-Central winner in the Central California State Championships in Orcutt.
After scoring a rather easy 16-3 win against Wasco to open the tournament, San Benito mounted a come-from-behind victory against Central in their second-round match-up on Sunday, beating the Fresno-based team 5-3.
San Benito plated four runs with two outs in the seventh inning to upend Central.
On Tuesday, San Benito beat Arroyo Grande 6-1, and played in the championship final on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the San Benito Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Stars lost their first two games at the Central California State Championships in Northwest Bakersfield last weekend.
Winners of District 1, San Benito’s season is complete after falling to Tulare and Lemoore.
