Needing a pair of victories over Section 3 representative San
Ramon in order to take the NorCal Division II crown, the Hollister
National 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars delivered a 3-1 victory last
Thursday to force a second, winner-take-all matchup. But the ride
ended there for the local all-stars. In a back-and-forth
championship game that saw the Section 3 rep jump out to a 5-0 lead
after one half-inning
— only for the boys in blue to erase the lead another
half-inning later — San Ramon outlasted Hollister National in the
end by an 11-8 margin, and earned the coveted NorCal title as a
result.
HOLLISTER
Needing a pair of victories over Section 3 representative San Ramon in order to take the NorCal Division II crown, the Hollister National 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars delivered a 3-1 victory last Thursday to force a second, winner-take-all matchup.
But the ride ended there for the local all-stars.
In a back-and-forth championship game that saw the Section 3 rep jump out to a 5-0 lead after one half-inning — only for the boys in blue to erase the lead another half-inning later — San Ramon outlasted Hollister National in the end by an 11-8 margin, and earned the coveted NorCal title as a result.
It’s the furthest any team can advance in the 9- and 10-year-old age division, and Hollister National nearly earned the championship after falling to the elimination bracket in just its second game.
National edged River Park 9-8 to open the tournament on July 24, but suffered a 4-2 loss against Sutter Buttes one game later.
“Losing that game probably shouldn’t have happened,” Hollister National manager Dave Marquez said. “We were definitely the better team. But I think what it did was show them that we can lose. It was a wake-up call.”
With their backs to the wall, National then rifled off four straight wins through the elimination bracket to force a second game against San Ramon in the championship. Hollister defeated Lincoln 15-3, edged Petaluma National 7-6, topped Sutter Buttes 7-2 and took Game 1 of the championship against San Ramon, 3-1.
“From then on out, the kids battled for six games in a row to get back,” Marquez said. “They never gave up.”
Mason Marquez threw 5.2 innings for Hollister National in that game, allowing one run on three hits while striking out seven. Ryan Platero recorded the final out of the game in relief.
Marquez received all the run support he would need in the very first inning when Garrett Bourdet lifted a two-run homer to center field, scoring Ryan Quinby. San Ramon cut the deficit in half in the second inning when it plated its one and only run as a result of two Hollister National errors.
It was as close as San Ramon would get, though. Hollister National tacked on an insurance run in the fourth inning when Quinby reached first base on a single, stole second, and then advanced to third base on a fielder’s choice ground out by Ryan Jameson.
Quinby would later score on a pass ball, pushing Hollister National out to what would be an insurmountable 3-1 lead. Tyler Triano added two singles in the game for Hollister National.
“I told the kids, if we make this a close game, we’d crack them,” Marquez said. “They really hadn’t been tested.”
The 3-1 victory forced a second championship game. But the winner-take-all matchup on Friday between the two one-loss teams didn’t fall in National’s favor.
San Ramon managed to score five runs in the first inning, but the lead was short-lived.
“Our kids came back in the bottom of the first and jumped on them for five runs,” Marquez said.
In that five-run frame, Isaiah Bueno led off with a walk, then advanced to second on a wild pitch when Triano connected on an RBI single to put National on the scoreboard. Bourdet then furthered the rally when he singled and Quinby followed with an RBI double.
Giovanni Gionnotta then made it a one-run deficit when he hit a two-RBI double — the second run scored resulting in a play at the plate. Gionnotta went to third base on the throw home, and the ensuing throw to third sailed into the outfield, allowing Gionnotta to score the tying run.
San Ramon reclaimed the lead in the second inning when it scored three runs, though. But again, Hollister National responded with two runs in the home half of the inning to make it an 8-7 ball game.
Bueno and Marquez both reached base via walk to start the inning and Triano trailed with a single to load the bases. The rally took a hit, however, when both Bueno and Marquez were each thrown out at home on consecutive ground outs.
Gionnotta then hit an RBI single to make it 8-6, while Bourdet scored the team’s seventh run of the game on a wild pitch.
The one-run deficit was as close as Hollister National would come for the remainder of the game, though. San Ramon added one run in the third to make it 9-7, then added a pair in the fourth to push its lead out to 11-7.
National got one run back in the sixth when Bourdet connected on an RBI single to score Bueno, but San Ramon’s lead was too great at that point.
Triano (1.2IP, 5H, 3BB, 6ER) started the game on the mound for National, and was later relieved by Jameson (2.1IP, 5H, 3R, 1K) and Platero (2IP, 0H, 0R, 2K).
Hollister National completes its postseason bid with a 5-2 record at state and runner-up in Northern California.
Said Marquez, “For the kids, I think they grew up a lot in the baseball sense, from learning to play as a team, to seeing what it takes.”
