9-10 All-Stars defeat River Park to win Division 2
championship
Rocklin – They’re coming back to Hollister. And they’re ready for a victory parade.
With their 5-3 victory over River Park (Fresno), the Hollister American 9-10-year-old All-Stars etched their final mark on the Little League landscape, securing the Division 2 championship in Rocklin Thursday night.
“We’re state champions!” exclaimed winning pitcher Robert Soto. “It feels like winning the World Series.”
Unfortunately for Hollister American, there is no Little League World Series for the 9-10-year-old age group, so the team will have to be content with running roughshod over its district, section and division foes.
Not that the All-Stars are complaining about winning the equivalent of the Northern California title.
“(We’re) probably the most excited we’re ever going to get in our lives,” said catcher Daniel Gonzales when asked about the championship celebration.
Hollister American got off to a quick start against River Park, taking a 1-0 lead when Dylan Yamasaki’s sacrifice fly drove in Gonzales, who led off the game with a single.
But River Park, which Hollister American defeated 7-2 in Tuesday’s semifinal, proved a worthy opponent by knotting the game with a two-out rally in the third. An RBI triple down the right-field line temporarily erased Hollister American’s lead, but the local All-Stars came right back in the fourth.
As has been the case throughout the team’s 13-1 postseason run, the players coming off the bench provided invaluable contributors in the title game. Substitutes Cody Asp and Christopher Cook were in the middle of the rally, with Asp connecting on a two-out double and Cook following with an RBI single to right.
Hollister American padded its lead to 5-1 in the fifth, taking advantage of two infield errors and Cody Cameron’s aggressive base-running to score three more runs.
The team’s defense again came through when needed the most. After River Park appeared to be ready to mount a comeback with consecutive walks to lead off the bottom of the fifth, Soto induced a grounder to third and Austin Wahl took care of the rest. Hollister American’s third baseman glove the ball, stepped on third for a force out and then snapped a throw to Josh George at second to complete a rally-killing double play.
Manager Robert Fabing said Soto, the tall left-hander, was the team’s trump card again.
“We had our horse on the mound,” Fabing said. “Whenever, for some reason, they had something going, he was able to get us a groundout or a strikeout.”
Soto finished with a complete-game six-hitter, striking out four.
Mindful of the tough road his team worked its way through to secure the Division 2 championship, Fabing gave credit to the one team that managed to defeat his All-Stars – crosstown Hollister National.
“I take my hat off to Hollister National for getting us ready to win state,” said Fabing, whose Hollister American squad had to defeat its rival twice to win the District 9 tournament.
With the celebration in full swing back at the team’s hotel, Fabing said he and his players were thrilled that they would return home as champions.
“I’ve never won a title,” Hollister American’s manager said, “but I’m just excited for the kids and the town of Hollister.”
