To say the Hollister American 12-and-under All-Star team ran roughshod in the recently completed District 9 tournament would be a vast understatement. Hollister’s 11-1 win over Atlantic of Salinas in the championship game last Sunday capped a scintillating run in which it outscored eight opponents by a combined margin of 109-17.
No, that’s not a typo. And it must be pointed out the margin could’ve been worse because one of American’s victories went down as a 6-0 forfeit (had the teams played, Hollister most likely would’ve won via the 10-run mercy rule). The American squad 10-run ruled five of its eight opponents.
“The coaching staff is really proud of the boys and how they’ve developed,” Hollister American manager Frank Reyes said. “This year’s scores didn’t necessarily reflect that the competition was very good. It was a couple of innings in each of these games when the scores got a little lopsided.”
Hollister advances to the Section 5 Tournament and plays Evergreen Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pajaro Valley Little League Ballpark. Most of the players on this year’s team was on the 11-and-under squad that Reyes managed last summer. That team advanced to the section semifinals, but simply didn’t have enough at the end.
However, Reyes is cautiously optimistic for a deeper run this season, reasoning that the players have experienced tremendous growth and maturity in the sport in the last year.
“They could always hit and throw,” Reyes said. “But this year they became ballplayers. They have a better understanding of what they’re doing on the field, what to do in certain situations, knowing how to approach an at-bat or hitting the cutoff man so the runner doesn’t advance another base. All of those things make a huge difference in the end.”
When this current group competed as 10 year olds two to three years ago, they came back in four of their six victories in district play to capture the tournament.
“Maybe that little bit of experience got them battle tested,” Reyes said. “As they progressed up age-wise, they’ve become a little more battle savvy veterans at this level.”
Over a dominant three-year stretch, Hollister American is 22-0 in district action. Seven of the players have been here for all of the victories: Jackson Pace, Ethan Fowles, Jack Brothers, Primo Reyes, Chase Freeman, Andrew Flores and Michael Canez.
Pace was the winning pitcher in the District 9 final, tossing a complete-game, three-hitter. Pace led the pitching staff with 15 innings pitched and 27 strikeouts. Freeman had 17 strikeouts in 10 innings of work. Reyes used seven other pitchers in relief, but he said he’s actually got three more players who could’ve pitched but didn’t use in district play.
Canez had three home runs, including one each in the semifinals and finals. Keon Texeira and Julian Gonzalez also slugged three home runs each, while Brothers and Flores had two home runs apiece. Texeira, Freeman, Gonzalez, Brothers and Flores had 56 of the team’s 76 RBIs.
More important, the Hollister hitters displayed discipline and patience in their at-bats. Nowhere was that more apparent In the Tournament of Champions that preceded District 9 play. Atlantic pitcher Marco Solis threw a no-hitter against Hollister American, but in Sunday’s District 9 title game, the Hollister players made Solis work.
They took a number of pitches and forced Solis out of the game early as he reached the maximum 85 pitch limit in just the second inning.
“Solis was the hardest thrower they had seen all year,” Reyes said. “Our boys approached Sunday’s game with a very workmanlike, professional approach. It was really one of the more impressive shows I’ve ever seen from a Little League team.”
In the finals, Teixeira went 4 for 4 while also making two sensational defensive plays at the center field position. Freeman, the shortstop, went 3 for 3 with two triples while also playing well defensively.
