Little League Major Division Hollister All-Star shortstop
Davonte Butler summed up Thursday’s championship game in only a few
words – but the gist was District 9 champion Hollister didn’t have
it’s best game.
WATSONVILLE
Little League Major Division Hollister All-Star shortstop Davonte Butler summed up Thursday’s championship game in only a few words – but the gist was District 9 champion Hollister didn’t have it’s best game.
“We were terrible,” Butler said, bluntly.
Some mental and physical errors – and dominant Aptos pitching – the 11-12 All-Stars were eliminated Thursday, losing to Aptos 12-2 in a shortened four-inning game.
Hollister never found its footing in the winner-take-all championship game, which Hollister forced the day before with a dominating 9-1 win. But from the top of the first inning Thursday, Hollister’s nerves got to them.
Things started to unravel for Hollister once the second batter of the game stepped to the plate.
After a leadoff single, a pop-up from the bat of Aptos’ Zak Pepperdine was dropped. The next batter, Jack Harris, hit a hard grounder to third baseman Isaiah Bueno, who quickly made the throw to second to start a double play.
The second baseman caught the ball and touched the base but the umpire ruled he dropped the ball when he tried to transfer it from the glove to his hand. The umpire called everyone safe.
With the bases-loaded, batter Jackson O’Boy made Hollister pay.
O’Boy hit a line drive up the middle that glanced off the glove of Hollister starting pitcher Drew Williams. The ball squirted to Mason Marquez at second but he had no play and a run scored.
“Things were just not going our way today,” Hollister manager Dave Marquez said. “We just weren’t making the plays we needed to. I don’t know what it was, but I think the nerves might have gotten to them.”
Aptos would score one more run on a double play attempt by Butler. The Hollister shortstop recieved a grounder, touched second and fired the ball to first – but the runner at first was called safe.
But the game got out of hand for Hollister in the second inning when Aptos scored six runs and sent 10 batters to the plate. Again, the inning started on Hollister miscues.
Leadoff hitter Ian Blair hit a ball into deep right field but Hollister’s right fielder got turned around and the ball glanced off his glove and skipped past him. Blair sprinted around the bags, ending up at third.
Two more Aptos batters reached base on infield singles, loading the bases for the second inning in a row. After a passed ball and a single scored two more runs, the bases were loaded for O’Boy.
The Aptos catcher jumped on the first pitch and crushed the ball to deep left field for a grand slam and an 8-0 Aptos lead.
“We kind of knew what to expect, so I told my kids to be patient and wait for something to hit,” Aptos manager Mike O’Boy said. “We had some success against the pitcher before so I hoped they would have some confidence and … I think they did.”
Hollister briefly grabbed momentum in the bottom of the third inning when Aptos starting kicking the ball around.
“Yeah, we started to get something going there,” Dave Marquez said. “We were able to have some good at bats and get some runners on.”
Aptos committed five errors in the inning but held Hollister without a hit. Despite the hitless inning, Hollister knocked in two runs and had two on base with only one out before the wrong batter went to the plate – causing Hollister to bat out of order.
“There was just some miscommunication and we batted out of order – that’s it,” Dave Marquez said.
The miscue quickly slowed down the inning.
Aptos responded with two more runs in the fourth inning, giving them the 10-run cushion they needed to end the game early.
Despite the loss, Dave Marquez said the future looks bright for the team with six 11-year-olds on this year’s squad.
“We are young,” he said. “Hopefully, they’ll be back here next year.”
Marquez praised his team for fighting while playing six games in six days.
“It’s difficult to do that,” he said. “We battled to get here and we fought today. This team is tremendous.”
They did so well in the tournament because of how they played with each other, Butler said.
“We play together as a team,” he said. “We all have each others’ backs.”
But most of all the team enjoyed the experience, he said.
“We had fun,” Butler said.
