After running roughshod through the District 9 tournament—outscoring its opponents by a combined score of 117-8—the Hollister American 11-12 All-Star team knew it would receive stiffer competition in the Section 5 tournament at Wilson Park in Cupertino.
“We won’t really know how good we are until we start sectionals,” Hollister American manager Rich Mcabee said. “It’ll be a true test, and hopefully we’ll come out of it OK.”
Unfortunately for Hollister, it put up a great effort only to be edged out by a couple of strong teams. Hollister opened up Section 5 tournament action on July 11 with a 12-9 loss to Los Gatos before losing to Scotts Valley 13-12 in an elimination game the next day.
Stiffer competition and Hollister’s inability to field the ball cleanly—it committed critical errors in both games—cost the team any chance of advancing in sectionals. Although Hollister’s pitching was impeccable in District 9 play, sectionals was a different story. Both of the team’s games in sectionals proved to be slugfests, with Hollister coming up a bit short in both contests.
“It was emotionally tough for everyone, to have our season end the way it did,” Mcabee said. “All but one of our kids are done with Little League (at the 11-12 level since they’ll be aged out). It was a tough deal.”
The losses, however, couldn’t put too much of a damper on an otherwise fine season for Hollister American, which had one of the most dominant runs in District 9 history.
Hollister’s lineup was a Murderer’s Row in District 9 competition. In eight games, Hollister hit 25 home runs, including six from Donnovan Mcabee, the manager’s son, and five each from Kenny Moore and Moises Salazar.
Alyssa Ito, the daughter of coach Scott Ito, produced clutch hits while providing superior defensive play at second base during district play. Hollister literally received contributions from everyone on the team, whether it was a player coming in the later innings as a pinch hitter, pinch runner or defensive replacement.
The squad had three standout starters in Mathew Sanders, McAbee and Salazar, but just about everyone on the 13-player roster pitched an inning or more.
“All of our pitchers have threw well,” Ito said. “We have six above average pitchers, and a couple of those them are outstanding.”
Despite coming up short in sectionals, the coaching staff was proud of the players for developing their skills as they moved up each successive age group. In each of the last two years—first at the 9-10 and then the 10-11 age division—Hollister American reached the sectionals.
“This team has really grown physically from when they were 9- and 10-year-olds,” Ito said. “The difference between age groups going up every year is huge. The kids seemed to get better as they moved up in age.”
In a scintillating district title run, the team had just one competitive game, a 4-0 win over Soledad in the finals. Remarkably, it was the only district game in which Hollister didn’t finish in double-digit scoring. The title game came after Hollister American routed Hollister National 11-1 in the semifinals.
In the championship game, Hollister was limited to two hits, but it made them count.
Jacob Casarez hit a two-run home run in the second inning and Salazar hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Salazar was also a force on the mound, tossing 4 2/3 innings of no-hit ball before having to depart the game because he reached the 85-pitch count limit.
Salazar had 10 strikeouts and four walks in a dominating start, and Sanders finished up with three strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings of shutout relief.
“We’ve got 13 players on our roster, and all 13 have contributed in some form,” Richard Mcabee said. “You can’t say that about every team, and it’s something to be proud of.”
In the team’s 12-9 loss to Los Gatos to open up Section 5 play, Caden Bolding had a home run and a team-best three RBI, John Corea finished with a team-high three hits and Casarez had two hits. Mcabee added a home run for Hollister, which trailed the entire way.
The 2014 Hollister American All-Star roster: Manager—Richard McAbee. Coaches—Scott Ito and Benjie Casarez. Players—Donnovan Mcabee, Jacob Casarez, Kenny Moore, Moises Salazar, John Corea, Jeremy Ashford, Caden Bolding, Alyssa Ito, Mathew Sanders, Jake Yamasaki, Larry Martinez, Jeremy Smith, Austin Salamida.
