The 14-year-olds will enjoy home field advantage tonight against
Atascadero
When the Babe Ruth 14-year-old state championship gets underway
tonight, the team from Hollister will have a distinct advantage
– they get to play at home.
The 14-year-olds will enjoy home field advantage tonight against Atascadero
When the Babe Ruth 14-year-old state championship gets underway tonight, the team from Hollister will have a distinct advantage – they get to play at home.
“This is the first time in at least five years that we’ve hosted the state tournament,” said Hollister coach Steve Ferranti. “We’ve hosted a lot of district tournaments but it’s been a while since the state tournament was here. Hopefully, our kids will be well rested because they’ll be able to sleep in their own beds and not some hotel room. Hopefully, they’ll play well, but you never know with 14-year-old kids.”
The Babe Ruth All-Stars will square off with Atascadero – the winners of the District 6 championship – at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Babe Ruth field on Memorial Drive in Hollister.
While the city’s 14-under Babe Ruth All-Star squad plays host to the Central California State tournament, the city’s 13-year-old All-Star squad will be competing at 11:30 a.m. Saturday morning in Lompoc.
The only Babe Ruth squad from Hollister that saw its season come to an end at the district level was the 15-under team, which lost 17-0 to Manteca despite beating them 13-3 in the opening round of the tournament.
Although the 14-under squad heads into the tournament on a high note after ousting Lodi 11-2 in its District I title game, they would have competed in today’s tournament no matter how they finished in the district event, since the team that hosts the state tournament always earns an automatic berth into it.
“We knew that but we wanted the competition and to get out and play,” Ferranti said. “It was nice to win (district). That was one of our goals but the main goal this year is to win state, especially since it’s in our hometown.”
The Hollister 14-under team enters this tournament as one of the most balanced teams in California. Not only is its defense solid but its hitting and pitching are equally impressive.
In the district tournament, Justin Terrill came up big on the hill for the 14-year-old squad. In that tournament he went 2-0.
In the opening game against Tracy he threw four innings of no-hit ball before leaving the mound. In the championship game, he allowed just two runs in three innings of work.
In the batter’s box no one was hotter last weekend than Chad Whitehead, who went 9-for-16 at the plate and was named the tournament’s MVP. Ryan Sabbatini also found his groove at the plate and wound up going 8-for-10.
In all, the 14-under team scored 62 runs in four games and gave up only 9 defensively.
While the 14-year-old squad was winning its district tournament, Hollister’s 13-year-old team was doing the same.
Made up of players from the Hollister American And Hollister National Little League teams of a year ago, many of the players on the 13-year-old team have been playing baseball together since they were 10.
Most of them also compete together on The Hitman club team, which is why their chemistry seems to be so good every time they take the field.
“They are pretty solid and doing really well,” said coach Jerry Sepulveda. “I don’t have experience at the Babe Ruth level to know how these tournaments are put together.”
In Lompoc today Sepulveda’s squad will be one of eight teams out of six districts in the central part of the state to earn a trip to the tournament. A win at this level and its on to regionals with a chance there to go to the national tournament in Trenton, New Jersey.
Like the 14-under team, the 13-under squad is loaded with talent. In fact, its pitching rotation is so deep that every player on the roster was a pitcher for other Babe Ruth teams in Hollister during the regular season.
“I’d have to say we are very good defensively, have good pitching and can hit the ball good too,” Sepulveda said. “They are very business like on the field but they have fun too. It’s a good bunch of kids. They work hard, show up everyday and do what they are asked to do.”
While everyone on the roster can pitch, the two main pitchers on the team are Daniel Arevalo and Darin Gillies. Both throw hard and have good control, and their pitching speed is just like a perfect day – in the mid to high 70s.
Although they didn’t advance to their state tournament, the Hollister 15-under team did manage to finish third in its district tournament.
After winning the first two games of the tournament, Hollister’s oldest Babe Ruth team wound up losing the next two.
While players at the younger levels have a chance to compete next year, for many players on the 15-under team it was the last time they will play organized baseball, which made losing a little more difficult pill to swallow.
“My goal and the other coaches goal was to make it enjoyable. We also still wanted to win,” coach Tim Furtado said. “It seemed like with each passing game in this tournament our defense struggled a little more. For the most part, we pitched and hit well and did good.”
