Veterans Memorial Park will turn into a hotbed of baseball
action this weekend
— perhaps even a little more than the typical summer
weekend.
The Hollister park, which houses fields for both the San Benito
Babe Ruth and Hollister Little League, will host a pair of all-star
tournaments starting Friday night.
HOLLISTER
Veterans Memorial Park will turn into a hotbed of baseball action this weekend — perhaps even a little more than the typical summer weekend.
The Hollister park, which houses fields for both the San Benito Babe Ruth and Hollister Little League, will host a pair of all-star tournaments starting Friday night.
San Benito Babe Ruth will act as the host site of the Central California 14-year-old State Tournament, which will entertain eight teams, including the local 14-year-olds from San Benito, while Hollister Little League will be the host of the Section 5 Major Division All-Star Tournament, which will welcome five teams, one of which will be District 9 representative Hollister National.
Hollister National compiled a 5-0 record through the District 9 tournament, and outscored its opponents by a 50-6 margin to advance to the Section 5 tourney.
Manager Anthony Sotelo said playing in the tournament won’t be easy, of course, but playing at home does offer its advantages.
“You’re gonna have more people cheering for you because it’s your home field. So to me, it’s a little bit of an advantage,” Sotelo said. “But everyone deserves to be there and they’re gonna be ready to play.”
Awarded the opportunity to scout its first opponent, though, Hollister National will enjoy a first-round bye to open the Section 5 tournament, and won’t play until Sunday at 10 a.m.
The boys in blue will play the winner between District 39 representative San Lorenzo Valley and District 59 representative North Valley, which will square off on Saturday at 10 a.m.
In the other Section 5 game, District 44 representative Moreland will face District 12 representative Saratoga on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Section 5 tournament is hosted on a rotating cycle among the member teams of District 9, which includes six teams in Salinas, as well as King City, Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield and North County.
“We haven’t actually hosted it in five or six years,” tournament director Deb Trice said. “But it’s a good tournament. It’s good baseball.”
It won’t be the only baseball played at Vets Park, though. The Central California State Tournament for the 14-year-old age division will kick off on Friday night, too, with the night’s festivities scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
The eight teams, which include San Benito (District 1, No. 1), Lodi (District 1, No. 2), Madera (District 2, No. 1), Central (District 2, No. 2), Selma (District 3), Tulare (District 4, No. 1), Dinuba (District 4, No. 2) and Santa Maria (District 6), will start the night with a catered dinner, with a ceremony honoring Hollister native Frank Cembellin to follow at approximately 6:15. p.m.
Cembellin, 86, is considered one of the two “Founding Fathers” of Babe Ruth baseball in San Benito County, and was recently inducted into the International Babe Ruth League Hall of Fame.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that Hollister Mayor Victor Gomez will be in attendance.
At 6:30 p.m., a baseball skills competition will take place, with events including a base relay run, a base relay throw, an outfield relay throw and a home run derby. Trophies will be presented to the top two teams.
On Saturday, the Dinuba-Central game will kick-off at 10 a.m., with Santa Maria and Lodi to follow at 1 p.m., and Tulare and Selma to square off at 4 p.m. The nightcap pitting San Benito and Madera, which won the 14-year-old state tournament last year, will begin at approximately 7 p.m.
It is the first Babe Ruth state tournament hosted by Vets Park since 2006, and the San Benito 14-year-old All-Stars, which claimed the District 1 crown, could advance through the state tournament without ever leaving Hollister; the local Babe Ruth players hosted the District 1 tournament at Vets Park as well.
Said San Benito manager Ron Fhurong after his 14-year-old team earned the District 1 championship, “We have a pretty strong bunch of kids this year. And we’ve got the home-field advantage.”
