Last year, the Hollister Babe Ruth Senior All-Stars had a dream season, advancing to their first-ever World Series in Alabama.
As the 2014 summer all-star season gets under way, coach Andrew Barragan has plenty of confidence the team can make a repeat run to the World Series.
“Last year was a special team, and this year’s team has a chance to be special,” said Barragan, who is also the San Benito High pitching coach. “(Talent-wise) this year’s team is even more stacked because we’ve got six returning starters coming back, and they’re all a year older and better. We’ve also got six to seven newcomers who look pretty good. It’s a nice mixture of veterans and young talent.”
Barragan said one of the keys to the season depends on the health of Greg Steinbeck, who had an outstanding 2014 season with the Haybalers. In last year’s summer season, Hollister rode the right arm of Steinbeck all the way to the World Series.
“He was our horse, and without Greg Steinbeck, we don’t make the World Series,” Barragan said. “
However, Barragan said Steinbeck is recuperating from the high school season, with the hope of getting him back for the important stretch run. Barragan said it would be highly unlikely Steinbeck will pitch in this weekend’s state tournament at Veterans Park.
In the meantime, Hollister will be in capable hands with Hunter Haworth, Tommy Hernandez and David Werolin, who started three games for the Balers in the spring and finished with a solid 2.93 ERA.
Hernandez, meanwhile, didn’t post great numbers during the high school season but did come up huge in his last outing of the season, a four-inning relief appearance in which he allowed just one earned run against a powerful Mitty lineup in a Central Coast Section Open Division quarterfinal.
Haworth was simply spectacular during the prep season, going a perfect 10-0 with a microscopic 0.44 ERA. Hollister will also be boosted by a number of San Benito High players who had standout seasons, including outfielder Dylan Yamasaki, catcher Zak Moeller, infielder Tony Amaral, pitcher Jacob Trujillo, catcher Caleb Menez, infielder Junior Rodriguez and outfielder Edgar Arriola.
Second baseman Dylan Ito, a 2013 San Benito graduate, should also be a key player in the lineup.
The majority of the Senior All-Stars are 18- and 19-year-olds. After winning the state tournament last year, Hollister advanced to the West Regionals in Riverton, Utah, before advancing to the World Series in Alabama.
This year’s route to the World Series—should Hollister get there—would be a much shorter path travel-wise. Hollister hosts the state tournament starting on Friday at Veterans Park.
“This team is not going to miss a beat,” Barragan said. “
The finalists from the tournament advance to the West Regionals in Modesto. Barragan said playing in Babe Ruth offers a great change-up—no pun intended—to other summer traveling baseball clubs.
“For the senior team, it costs $150 to play for the season,” he said. “A lot of the stuff from hats and uniforms are donated. We’ve never had anything in town to keep the majority of the local kids together until now. Rather than paying the $1,500 to $2,000 for travel ball, which a lot of the kids can’t afford, that’s where we come in. The travel ball teams say they’ve got pro scouts and college coaches at the their showcases, and that may be true. But I’ll tell you what: There were plenty of scouts at the World Series in Alabama last year.”
In addition to the Seniors team, Hollister has three other squads in different age groups. The 15-year-old team includes Baxter Black, AJ Borges, Davonte Butler, Frank Chavez, Diego Fisher, Bobby Gonzales, Dyllan Greig, Tyler Grimes, Josh Harris, Dominic Hernandez, Louis Huntley, Dalton Neece and Travis Roy.
The 14-year-old team includes Garrett Bourdet, Isaiah Bueno, Nicholas Christian, Marco Gaitan, Adam Hernandez, Jacob Ito, Ryan Jameson, Zach Livingston, Mason Marquez, Eugene McBride, Ryan Quinby and Tyler Triano.
The 12-year-old squad includes Dawson Biersdorff, Matt Campo, Joshua Cutler, Kevin Edwards, Anthony Espinoza, Nathaniel Garcia, Matt Harris, Brady Miguel, Luis Montero, Garret Spriggs, David Talavera, Javier Valdez and Jordan Yeager.
