Angels advance to quarters, but Hollister left title-less this
season
In a whirlwind three-day span, Hollister Little League got to test itself against the rest of the District 9 field in the Majors Tournament of Champions. But for the first time in five years, a Hollister team won’t be at the top of the heap when the season comes to a close Thursday.
The Angels enjoyed the strongest run of the four Hollister entrants, winning their first two games to gain a berth in the quarterfinals. But the American League champions’ run ended there with a 10-0 loss to Hartnell on Tuesday.
The Orioles, AL runners-up, posted a first-round win over the crosstown Mets on Saturday, but saw their season end against the powerful Ferrasci Reds the next day.
After surging to the National League championship a week earlier, the Rockies (9-12) fell to North County, 7-6, in the opening round.
Speaking to Hollister Little League’s uncharacteristic early exit from the TOCs, Angels manager C.R. Gonzales said the field offered some top-notch competition.
“We had a tougher time this year than we have in quite some time,” Gonzales related.
In their first two games, the Angels looked poised to continue their winning ways all the way to the TOC championship.
They jumped on the Ferrasci Giants early in their opening game when Kevin Salvas hit a grand slam in the first inning on Saturday. Salvas provided all the run production his team needed in its 6-2 win, later belting a two-run home run. Pitchers Tyler Pina, Eddie Munoz and Tyler Quinby combined for the victory.
The following day, the Angels (19-4) again struck for four runs in the first inning, building a cushion that allowed them to outlast Atlantic, 7-6. Salvas, Brandon Rodgriguez and Daniel Gonzales pitched the team to the second-round win.
In the quarterfinals, a four-run first inning once again proved the difference in the game. Unfortunately for the Angels, it was Hartnell that jumped out to the quick lead and had all the offense it needed on Monday.
“The Hartnell team just came out swinging and they were just hitting everything we threw at them,” said Gonzales, the Angels’ manager. “It just didn’t matter. They were hitting everything and anything.”
Nevertheless, Gonzales called the season a tremendous success for his team, a group that, with many of the same players, won just four games in 2005.
“Just a good group of kids,” Gonzales said. “They deserve everything they got because they worked for it. Our biggest goal was to get to TOCs, and anything after that was a bonus.”
The Orioles knew the Mets (14-7) would give them everything they could handle in the all-Hollister opener at Veterans Park on Saturday. Orioles manager Steve Gessell spoke of the inherent difficulty in playing an opponent that knew his players so well.
“It’s kind of tough going head-to-head with your own town,” Gessell said. “Normally, when you’re in a tournament like this, you’re rooting for the Hollister teams, but you can’t because you’re playing against them. There’s a lot of good camaraderie there. There’s some good competitive spirit.”
Early offense paid dividends in this contest as well, with the Orioles jumping to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first to spearhead their eventual 5-3 win. Cody Gessell reached on a one-out bunt single and then clean-up hitter Jacob Cabral followed a batter later with a two-run home run to center. The team’s starting pitcher, Cabral also struck out six of seven batters to open the game.
The Orioles (18-4) later extended their lead to 5-0, an advantage that allowed them to absorb the Mets’ three-run rally in the fifth and still advance to the second round.
The Ferrasci Reds, the top team advancing to the TOCs from that league, proved too difficult for the Orioles on Sunday. Behind five home runs by four different players, the Reds prevailed 9-5, handing the Orioles their season-ending loss.
