Hollister National Manager Adam Breen never thought he’d use
half of his roster on pitching at the 9- and10-year-old Section 5
All-Star Tournament.
By Andrew Matheson Sports Editor
Hollister – Hollister National Manager Adam Breen never thought he’d use half of his roster on pitching at the 9- and10-year-old Section 5 All-Star Tournament.
But after Saturday night’s, and Sunday morning’s, epic 13-inning, five-hour battle against Santa Clara Westside, a second-round matchup that saw National use five pitchers for a total of 247 pitches, Breen had to do just that.
“The first game is the most important to win in this tournament. If you stay in the winners bracket, you have to win three games to win the whole thing,” Breen said on Saturday night. “It’s tough. But one thing we have is depth.”
National’s pitching depth was the key. National eventually defeated Westside 4-3, and in their second game on Sunday against Saratoga — without being able to use any of the five pitchers from the previous game – National won by a close 6-5 margin, qualifying the squad for tonight’s Section 5 championship round against Saratoga.
“Seven pitchers in two games,” Breen said. “That highlights the depth we have, which has allowed us to go this far.”
Saturday’s game against Westside, though, was where National’s depth shined. The game was so long, that after the 10 full innings was complete on Saturday night — a game that started at 7pm — the game was suspended at 11pm due to Little League rules, and was forced to commence at 11am on Sunday.
On Sunday, with the score tied 3-3, both teams threatened in each inning, but it wasn’t until the bottom of the 13th that National plated the winning run, and ended a game that few people in attendance had seen before.
After a Greg Moreno infield single, Austin Ryder came in as a courtesy runner, and advanced to second on a Brandon Granger bloop single. Riley Lange pushed Ryder to third base on a fielder’s choice, and Garrett Kelly hit a bouncing ball by the shortstop for the winning run.
“That was more than a doubleheader. I think the most innings I’ve ever seen in a Little League game was 10 — 13 is unheard of,” Breen said. “Our hope was that we would just outlast them…But we didn’t think it’d go 13 innings.
“The thing is, we’ve got good pitching.”
Hunter Haworth, Greg Moreno, John Batelle, Andrew Breen, and Riley Lange were on the mound for National against Westside, and prevented the local All-Stars from being placed into the losers bracket.
The two teams exchanged runs early in the game, until Andrew Breen scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third on a fielding error, putting National ahead 3-2.
It stayed that way until the top of the sixth, when Westside’s James Detweiler connected for an RBI single that tied the game, and eventually sent it to extra innings.
In extras, both teams supplied highlight-reel defensive plays, including National turning a 3-6 double play in the eighth. Additionally, in the ninth, Westside’s Jacob Martinez ripped a single to right field, but National’s Andrew Sotelo, from right field, threw out a sprinting Martinez at first base.
The game was won on Kelly’s RBI single in the bottom of the 13th, some 17 hours after the game had originally started on Saturday night.
“It was important to win this game anyway because it’s one less game in the losers bracket,” Breen said. “And since we used five pitchers in one game, winning that game was essential.”
After defeating Westside on Sunday morning, National had to play Saratoga on Sunday afternoon, and while it was a far shorter game in terms of innings and time, it was not short on the dramatics.
National scored five times in the first two innings, highlighted by a two-run home run by Andrew Breen, and a two-run single by Moreno, to give National a 5-4 lead.
In what would be the winning run, though, came in the third for National. After a Sotelo double, Brandon Granger hit into a fielder’s choice. Saratoga players, thinking it was the third out, began to walk off the field, allowing Sotelo to score. Said Breen, “We took advantage of that mistake.”
In the sixth, with National ahead 6-5, a pass ball brought a Saratoga player home to tie, but Sotelo covered and threw to catcher Austin Ryder, who got the third out at home plate.
Pitchers Granger and Sotelo combined for four runs on six hits, striking out nine.
National will play Saratoga tonight in Hollister at 7pm. National, who is undefeated, will need to fall twice to be eliminated.
“We knew going in that are pitching depth was going to help us,” Breen said. “Now we’re in a position where we control our own destiny.”
