The San Benito 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars were eliminated
in the quarterfinals at the Central California State Championships,
held earlier this week in Arroyo Grande.
Staff Reports
Arroyo Grande – The San Benito 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars were eliminated in the quarterfinals at the Central California State Championships, held earlier this week in Arroyo Grande.
After winning their first game 13-2 over Reedley, San Benito was edged by Lompoc 4-3, and were subsequently placed in the losers bracket of the double-elimination tournament.
“As you go into that losers bracket, you’ve got to have pitching – a lot of pitching,” Manager Joe Ocampo said. “You want to get to that next game, so you use up your better pitching.”
Teetering on the brink of elimination, San Benito was scheduled to face host Arroyo Grande.
“We were down 4-1, and ended up coming back,” Ocampo said. Playing against the host team, San Benito rallied to tie and eventually took the lead against Arroyo Grande in a 6-4 win, advancing them to the quarterfinals against Hanford.
However, against a strong Hanford team that eventually played in the championship against Bakersfield, San Benito fell 10-0.
“Every ball we hit, we hit it at somebody,” Ocampo said. “I think the kids were a little tired. It was just a lot of baseball.”
Ocampo added that he thought all the teams involved were equal, but for next year, he would like to have more conditioned arms in an effort to go further.
The squad qualified for the state championship tournament after going 4-0 in the Central California State Qualifier Tournament held in Hollister, which included a 24-0 shellacking against Manteca in the championship game.
With their season now complete, though, Ocampo was pleased with the tournament and the experience his players received.
“We won as a team and we lost as a team,” he said. “It was a good experience for them and it was a good tournament.”
Note: The San Benito 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars will begin their quest to a state title today at the Central California State Championship in Madera.
