After a convincing win over Modesto on Saturday, the San Benito
Babe Ruth All-Stars were dealt a difficult loss on Monday night
against Lodi at the 2007 15-year-old Central California State
Qualifier Tournament in Stockton.
Staff Reports
Stockton – After a convincing win over Modesto on Saturday, the San Benito Babe Ruth All-Stars were dealt a difficult loss on Monday night against Lodi at the 2007 15-year-old Central California State Qualifier Tournament in Stockton.
The tournament, which began Saturday, will send its champion to the state tournament in Lodi. Currently, San Benito sits with a 3-1 record, and will return to the field on Thursday in Stockton to battle the winner of the Manteca/Tracy game.
On Saturday, the tournament started with a 3-for-5 day from Fred Larios, which included three RBIs, as San Benito crushed Modesto in their opening round game 24-2 in five innings, setting up the second-round matchup between San Benito and Lodi on Sunday.
In that game, Lodi jumped out to a sizable lead, plating all seven runs in the second inning after San Benito committed three errors. San Benito reliever Will Cross came in, however, and kept Lodi scoreless.
“Will Cross did an outstanding job on the mound,” Manager Noel Provost said. “He was well-composed, and was mowing down batters. He only struck out one, but they couldn’t hit him.”
After Lodi’s seven-run second, San Benito began to mount a comeback, and found themselves trailing 7-4 in the seventh inning.
It could have been 8-4, but handy glovework from shortstop Chad Whitehead prevented that.
“There was a flare hit into short left field, (Whitehead) made a diving catch and salvaged the inning,” Provost said. “That was an inning-ending catch in the seventh inning.”
In the bottom half of the seventh, the local 15-year-old All-Stars managed to load the bases, when Tyler Provost hit a two-RBI double to center field, a ball that Manager Provost said missed clearing the wall by about three feet.
Down 7-6, San Benito would tie the game at 7-7 after Lodi walked the next two batters, including the tying run. With one out, San Benito called for a suicide squeeze, but as Provost said, the ball was thrown “three inches off the dirt, the worst place he could have thrown it.”
As a result, the San Benito batter was unable to lay down a bunt, and the runner on third was tagged out in a rundown. The ensuing batter struck out, and with the game tied at 7-7, the two teams would go to extra innings.
The game was suspended due to darkness on Sunday night, and the two teams reconvened on Monday to finish the game. Lodi plated one run in the top of the ninth inning and held on to the 8-7 win.
“That was probably advantageous for them. It’s too bad we couldn’t have finished it,” said Provost of the break in between Sunday and Monday. “It was the absolute best Babe Ruth game I’ve ever seen, win or lose.”
Provost added that after the game, umpires and parents on both sides complimented the San Benito players.
Approximately 30 minutes after the loss to Lodi, though, San Benito had to play Ripon as well. Led by pitching from Whitehead and David Alvarez, San Benito triumphed over Ripon 11-1, a game that was called in five innings.
“We 10-runned them, but we played flat,” Provost said. “That gives you an indication of how good this team is.”
San Benito pocketed seven runs in the first inning, one in the fourth, and three more in the seventh.
The team will now play the winner of Manteca/Tracy on Thursday in Stockton. A win would place the team in the semifinals, slated for Friday.
