CUPERTINO – Wilson Park had never had such a scene grace its
hallowed grounds before. About 60 die-hard Hollister National fans
had made an impromptu tunnel by standing across from each other and
locking hands high up in the air as darkness beckoned Thursday
evening. Through the tunnel burrowed the entire National 9-10
All-Stars roster one by one, including manager Jerry Sepulveda and
assistants Michael Martinez and Oscar Ramirez.
CUPERTINO – Wilson Park had never had such a scene grace its hallowed grounds before. About 60 die-hard Hollister National fans had made an impromptu tunnel by standing across from each other and locking hands high up in the air as darkness beckoned Thursday evening. Through the tunnel burrowed the entire National 9-10 All-Stars roster one by one, including manager Jerry Sepulveda and assistants Michael Martinez and Oscar Ramirez.
The chants of “Hollister! Hollister! Hollister!” were surely heard down residential blocks. At the end of the line, someone was holding a sign with the following written on it:
“Jahziel Gonzalez Fan Club. # 7 is #1!”
Gonzalez, showing nerves of steel in the most pressure-packed situation he has ever encountered while wearing a baseball uniform which bears the No. 7, had just pitched Hollister National to an unprecedented Division 2 championship.
Hollister National 5, Alameda 2. Frame it and hang it on the wall.
This wasn’t any normal game, with tempers flaring in the dugouts and in the stands. In fact, with two out in the bottom of the sixth and with Alameda’s Enrique Padilla on at third base, Alameda manager Daryl Thomas wrung his hands at the sight of Nathan Cole being thrown out at the plate. Padilla hit a booming double to dead center and Thomas, who was coaching third, waved Cole in. The relay from Alex Costa overshot its original target and somehow ended up in the hands of Gonzalez, who was on the second base side of pitcher’s mound. Gonzalez hit catcher Ricky Garcia on the money and Garcia applied the tag to a sliding Cole.
Thomas charged down the line to protest that Garcia had stood in the baseline and blocked the plate without the ball. The Alameda scorekeeper, who is also the Chief Umpire for Alameda Little League, grabbed a rule book and brought it to the umpiring crew, lobbying his club’s case. Thomas protested the game, which meant a long distance call on the nearest cell phone to San Bernardino, Little League Western Regional headquarters.
Meanwhile, Sepulveda pulled all of his players into the dugout so they wouldn’t have to stand around and fester or get stiff during the delay. After about 15 minutes, the call at the plate stood.
Almost lost in all the mayhem was an incredible play by Costa. You see, Costa was the National right fielder. He came all the way over to back up center fielder Rolo Robles on the play and it paid off when the ball took a unique hop off the fence.
“If Alex doesn’t hustle his tail over to back that play up, that run scores,” said Sepulveda.
Still, Gonzalez had to retire one more batter. He went to a full count before sneaking a strike three in across the letters. It was Gonzalez’ fifth strikeout of the game and none was bigger.
“That delay didn’t bother me,” said Gonzalez. “I was just thinking about winning. It feels great to be the winning pitcher in the championship game.”
“That’s the thing about Jahz,” said Sepulveda, who coached Gonzalez during the regular season on the Cardinals. “He never lets anything bother him. If he strikes out some one or gives up a homer, he doesn’t change his expression.”
Another defensive beauty in that bottom of the sixth inning was by second baseman Joey Schulman, who played the whole game at second base. Jordan Thomas stung a ball right at Schulman to lead off the inning. Schulman backhanded the short-hop without a flinch and tossed out Thomas at first.
Hollister National, the visiting team, came out of the gate quickly against Alameda’s ace Billy Johnson, who was well-rested, having pitched just an inning last Saturday against San Mateo American. Garcia led off with a single to left field, then Cooper Sepulveda hit a solid single to center. Alameda, which had witnessed the power of Daniel Arevalo in a 4-0 defeat on Wednesday, had no intentions of pitching to Arevalo on this particular evening. Johnson threw four straight high and outside pitches to Arevalo to load the bases with none out.
Johnson, who throws hard, whiffed the next three batters to get out of the jam.
After stranding two more runners in the second, National put a two-spot up on the board in the third. Arevalo led off the inning and drew four more wide ones. This time the strategy backfired when Adrian Casarez belted a double off the center field fence. Arevalo was waved around third and probably would have been out at the plate, but the relay was missed. Casarez moved all the way to third on the throw to the plate, which was errant. Oscar Ramirez walked to set up a first-and-third situation. Ramirez didn’t steal right away per usual, but went after about three pitches. There might have been a miscommunication on the infield because the throw went down to second to get Ramirez, who was safe. The throw enabled Casarez to score on the double steal.
The fourth inning gave proof that things can change quickly in the game of baseball. Hollister National was one strike away from going into the top of the fifth up 2-0. Alameda had one-out singles by Cole, who went 3-3, and Padilla. Josh Tinnon, a prolific bunter, laid down a textbook bunt which rolled just fair down the third baseline. Garcia, in one of the greatest defensive plays of the entire tournament, pounced from his catcher’s squat to barehand the ball and whip a throw to Ramirez at third base. Cole was out on a bang-bang play. Daryl Thomas went ballistic from his third base coach’s box in disagreement, as did the rest of the Alameda braintrust.
Garcia’s play was huge when the unthinkable happened to Hollister National. With the count 0-2 on Dylan Armijo, Garcia delivered the ball back to Gonzalez. The ball slipped through Gonzalez’ legs and rolled about five yards behind second base. Padilla alertly scooted to third, rounded the bag and took off for home. The throw to the plate was off line and Padilla, who had actually stopped about four yards from the plate, touched home. Tinnon was running wild while all this was going on and ended up barreling down the third baseline himself as the ball was being thrown around the infield willy-nilly. A throw to the plate scooted under Garcia’s glove and Tinnon was safe.
Alameda had two gift-wrapped runs and had gained much-needed momentum.
“I thought when we tied the game we had the momentum on our side,” said Daryl Thomas.
But, this was Hollister National’s night. Arevalo walked for the third time on four pitches. After two strikeouts by Johnson, Ramirez drew a walk. Gonzalez, down in the count, blooped a single to center to score Arevalo and a 3-2 National lead.
Little League rules state every player on the roster must either have at least one at bat or play three defensive outs. It was getting late and Jerry Sepulveda had two more players to get in the game.
The first, Eric Escalante, battled and battled before flaring a ball over first base for an RBI. The second, Michael Martinez, fought off some pitches then hit a soft one to the left of the Alameda second baseman. The ball spun away for a tough error, scoring Gonzalez.
“I told Eric and Michael I needed their bats tonight from off the bench,” said Jerry Sepulveda. “They both had been swinging the bat well in batting practice. I knew they would come through. I thought that was turning point in the game, when we came back and scored those runs after they had tied it.”
Gonzalez hit Johnson with a pitch to start the fifth. It was the second time Johnson had been hit with a pitch in the game and the fourth in the last two nights. The Alameda coaching corps, which wasn’t enamored with the first time Johnson was plunked, was furious after the second.
Gonzalez kept his poise in all the mania and retired the next three hitters. A.J. Vanegas pitched a perfect sixth for Alameda and even pitched to Arevalo, who chased two nice curves in the dirt to get behind 0-2. Arevalo eventually hit a swinging bunt down the third baseline. The throw from third was close and Alameda, yes, Alameda got the call.
“It was a great game,” said Daryl Thomas, who had some time to calm down after the game. “It was too bad anybody had to lose because there were two great teams out there tonight. Gonzalez went inside and out on us. He pitched well and so did Johnson. I’m proud of the way my team played.”
Jerry Sepulveda gave some credit to his assistant coaches – the elder Martinez and Ramirez.
“Michael (Martinez) handled the pitchers and you could see how much good work he did with them,” said Sepulveda. “Oscar (Ramirez) was the field coach and he called all the signals. They both did a great job for me.”
This was a team win all the way for Hollister National, which typified ts long journey in garnering the District 9, Section 5 and now, a Division 2 championship. Everyone contributed in some way, be it with his bat, his glove, his speed or his arm.
The Hollister National 9-10 ‘A’ All-Stars will be remembered for playing America’s national pasttime the way it should be played – as a team.
A team which proudly wears the label, “The best team in Northern California”.
Hol Nat 002 030 – 5 6 2
Alameda 000 200 – 2 6 4
Gonzalez and Garcia; Johnson, Vanegas (6) and Cole. WP-Gonzalez. LP-Johnson. 2B – Casarez (HN); Padilla (A). 3 hits – Cole (A). 2 hits – Padilla (A).
