Matt Lewis was the manager of the Hollister National 9-and-under All-Star team that won the District 9 championship last year. Because of the team’s makeup, Lewis wondered what the squad could’ve done had there been another round of play (the 9s age division ends with the district tournament).
Now he knows. Lewis is managing the 10-and-under Hollister National All-Star team this season, coaching basically the same group he had a year ago. And National finds itself in winner-take-all game Thursday against Cambrian Park in San Jose.
National whipped Los Altos 9-1 and edged Cambrian Park 7-5 on Tuesday to advance to the title round. However, Cambrian Park exacted revenge with a 15-3 clobbering of Hollister to force Thursday’s decisive championship contest.
“Jaden (Mingus) is pretty much our closer, and we want to make sure he’s available just in case something crazy happens and we lose (on Wednesday),” Lewis said. “If it does, between Ezra (Robinson), Jaden, William (Lewis) and Gabriel (Herbst), we have a lot of guys who can pitch.”
Lewis felt plenty confident with this group after it knocked off a tough Hollister American squad 12-7 in the District 9 title contest. National actually trailed 6-0 entering the top of the third inning before roaring back for the victory.
Austin Hutchison had two doubles and a triple to key the comeback win, while Mingus had a couple of big hits as well.
“Austin was on fire,” Lewis said. “He was hitting everything. And Jaden had another huge day hitting. Basically everyone on the team is a good hitter. The substitutes we pull off the bench have come through big time.”
National lost to American 6-4 in pool play, but it showed plenty of resolve in the rematch. National faced deficits of 6-0 and 7-4 before taking the lead for good in the fifth inning. Against Cambrian Park, Hollister led the entire way, with Mingus recording the final two outs to seal the win.
Ten of the 12 players Lewis coached on the 9s team a year ago aged up to the 10s squad this season. In addition, the team added three additional players who have made an impact. In addition to the aforementioned names, the roster includes John Canty, Jesus Diaz, Noah Orozco, Taylor Smith, Gabriel Torres, Daymien Valencia, Chase Waller and Brayden Watkins.
National has only hit two home runs during All-Star play—one by Diaz and the other by Hutchison. However, the lack of the long ball hasn’t hurt Hollister from scoring runs in bunches. That’s because the team has shown the ability to hit the ball in the gaps at a high rate.
In Monday’s win, Mingus and Torres had ground-rule doubles.
