The magical Babe Ruth run of four All-Star teams ended over the
weekend, as San Benito’s final team was eliminated in the
championship round of the Pacific Southwest Regional – just two
wins shy of clinching a spot in the Babe Ruth World Series.
The magical Babe Ruth run of four All-Star teams ended over the weekend, as San Benito’s final team was eliminated in the championship round of the Pacific Southwest Regional – just two wins shy of clinching a spot in the Babe Ruth World Series.
“It was a great week for us, but we fell just a little short,” said Angel Rueda, league president and manager of the 14-year-old All-Star team.
Despite the elimination of all four teams, Rueda was proud of his program and couldn’t wait for next year.
“We have some big shoes to fill,” he said. “We can’t get big heads and believe we are just an elite program. We have to continue to do what got us here.”
And for Rueda that’s the strong support of volunteers and great coaching.
“Anything could happen in this community,” he said.
13 All-Stars
The San Benito 13-year-olds were the final to team to be eliminated over the weekend after losing the first game of the championship round 10-0 to Tri-Valley, who represented Northern California. San Benito’s two losses came at the hands of Tri-Valley.
The run to the championship game for San Benito in Taylorsville, Utah was surprising because of its opening game 11-4 loss to Tri-Valley.
After that loss, the team rallied for three straight wins.
In the first game of the elimination bracket, San Benito beat host Taylorsville 4-2 Wednesday. The win was highlighted by a big three-run fourth inning that gave San Benito an early 4-0 lead.
With the big lead, starting pitcher Andrew Sotelo shut down the opposing bats. He threw six and two-thirds innings, allowing only two runs. Sotelo also finished the game with two hits.
Vincent Parker had the big hit for San Benito with a two-out, two RBI single in the fourth inning. Parker’s RBIs were the last runs scored by San Benito.
The All-Stars continued their success the following game against Carbon Canyon, beating the Utah team 5-3 Thursday. San Benito struck early with a pair of runs in the first inning.
Taking advantage of Carbon Canyon errors and wild throws, San Benito scored on a Sotelo single and Parker ground out.
But San Benito quickly fell behind in the second inning after Carbon Canyon scored three unearned runs.
Starting pitcher Macen Schwehr kept the game close by not allowing another run in three innings.
San Benito eventually took the lead for good in the fourth inning on a Tyler Biersdorff sacrifice fly and a Schwehr single.
San Benito would add a final run in the sixth inning.
The Central California champions continued their winning ways with a 12-2 victory over Northern Utah representative Tooele County.
Sotelo led the way again, throwing four innings of shutout baseball. Sotelo also struck out eight batters. RJ Clark, Parker and Jose Rodriguez all had RBIs in the San Benito victory.
In the second game of the Friday doubleheader, San Benito pounded South Reno 10-0 to push the All-Stars to Saturday’s championship game.
Parker threw a complete game for San Benito as Rodriguez knocked in two runs. Biersdorff also contributed by driving in a pair of runs off of two bases-loaded walks.
But the winning streak ended quickly for San Benito in the championship game as Tri-Valley jumped on San Benito early thanks to some untimely errors.
San Benito only mustered three hits in the 10-0 loss, as Tri-Valley retired the last 11 hitters in a row.
14 All-Stars
The 14-year-olds San Benito team opened and finished the regional tournament in heartbreak, falling twice to Northern California’s Tri-Valley after coming from behind late to either take the lead or tie the game.
San Benito opened the tournament Tuesday against Tri-Valley, who took a quick 2-0 lead after smacking back-to-back home runs.
The quick start stunned San Benito until the sixth inning.
Trailing 7-3, San Benito loaded the bases for Enrique Rodriguez, who promptly hit a grand slam.
“It was a big hit for us,” Rueda said. “It gave us the momentum.”
The next batter, Zach Mueller followed with another home run, giving San Benito its first lead at 8-7.
The lead wouldn’t last long though.
After a couple of fielding blunders, Tri-Valley took the lead right back and scored four runs in the sixth inning.
San Benito wasn’t able to muster another comeback and fell 11-8.
The next day San Benito dominated on its way to a 9-0 win over Reno. Staring pitcher Tommy Hernandez was excellent going six and two-thirds innings without allowing a run.
Hernandez also had two hits to drive the offense. Marcos Rueda contributed with two hits and two RBIs to help give San Benito the win.
Enrique Rodriguez also hit his second home run of the tournament.
San Benito caught a break Thursday after Ogden, Utah had to forfeit because of injuries. The win advanced San Benito to a rematch against Tri-Valley.
For the second time against Tri-Valley, San Benito trailed early, allowing three runs off of two first inning home runs, but eventually came back.
“The first inning kept on hurting us,” he said. “We were staring from behind.”
Afterward, starting pitcher Jacob Trujillo began to settle down, allowing only one more run.
Taking advantage of some untimely Tri-Valley errors, San Benito tied the game with a three-run sixth inning.
“I thought we had momentum at that point,” Rueda said.
San Benito almost closed out the sixth with a tied game, but San Benito’s defense failed at the wrong time.
With two outs in the inning, a throwing error cost the All-Stars two runs and the game.
San Benito was eliminated by Tri-Valley in 6-4 loss.
15 All-Stars
The 15-year-old All-Stars were eliminated in three games, despite winning the opening game 13-1 in Fowler. San Benito’s opening round win over Murray, Utah was the high point for the All-Star team during the week.
San Benito dropped the next two games 3-2 to Southern California and host Cotton Belt 7-2 on Thursday.
Manager Al Lopes did not immediately return phone calls.
The 16-18 All-Stars were eliminated from competition the previous week. It was the first time San Benito had four teams in the regionals.
