Hollister will have its first team at a Babe Ruth World Series after the senior team advanced with a dramatic victory in Utah.
The senior Babe Ruth travel ball team, the 16-18 age group, is set for the 10-team tournament taking place Aug. 15 to Aug. 22 in Covington County, Ala. The team got there by winning the state tournament in mid-July before heading to Utah and winning the Pacific Southwest Regional title.
In both championship games, at the state level and again at regionals in Riverton, Utah, Hollister defeated the Modesto seniors.
“They ran through their bracket and we ran through ours – and we got them again,” coach Andrew Barragan said.
Hollister won that game 12-11 on a walk-off hit by Marcus Sabate, scoring Jacob Tonascia, in the eighth inning. He made the clutch hit off of Tyler Murphy, an incoming St. Mary’s prospect. It followed a back-and-forth tempo to the championship game
“They responded well to every inning,” Barragan said. “They weren’t afraid. They weren’t afraid of these kids at all.
That same Modesto Babe Ruth team had advanced to the World Series in 2012.
Now, following the dramatic win over Modesto and led by several strong pitching performances from starter Greg Steinbeck – state tournament most valuable player – Hollister gets its chance to shine under a bigger spotlight. The tournament’s championship game is televised on ESPN 2, while the Babe Ruth league pays for the accommodations for the trip.
There are 18 players on the team, with five returning to the San Benito High School varsity squad next year.
He said Hollister has not had a team advance to the World Series in Babe Ruth, which has been around since the 1950s.
“We’ve got a lot of confidence going into that,” Barragan said. “These boys know they have nothing to lose. They truly have nothing to lose.”
