Hollister National manager Jerry Sepulveda sprinted to the
pitcher’s mound, dodging a few of his players along the way, in
order to scoop the game ball in all the mayhem. He didn’t want this
one to get away.
This ball was special.
Hollister National manager Jerry Sepulveda sprinted to the pitcher’s mound, dodging a few of his players along the way, in order to scoop the game ball in all the mayhem. He didn’t want this one to get away.
This ball was special.
Hollister National didn’t let the Section 5 9-10 All-Stars championship escape either, making an early lead stand up for an 11-4 victory in Wednesday night’s showdown with athletic Almaden of West San Jose at Vets Park. With the win, Hollister National advances to what is known as Division 2, a six-team field which features the best 9-10 year-old Little League All-Star teams in Northern California. Tri-Cities Little League, based in Cupertino, is the host league. Hollister National is one of two Section winners to receive a bye and plays the Section 4-Section 6 victor Saturday at 11 a.m., which will be one of two games going on simultaneously. Section 1 is the other entrant which gets a bye.
“Hollister National should do very well in the tournament,” said Almaden manager Tarun Patel. “They have more than two pitchers and they hit the ball very well.”
Hollister National hit the ball extremely well in the first part of Wednesday’s game, scoring eight of its 11 runs in the first two innings. Cooper Sepulveda’s hard one-hopper off the Almaden second baseman’s wrist trickled into short right for a single, scoring Oscar Ramirez.
With three runs already in, Alex Costa singled sharply to right field for two more runs, plating Adrian Casarez and Jahz Gonzalez.
Leading 5-1 at the top of the second, Ricky Garcia led off with a swinging bunt and beat it out for the second of his three hits. A throwing error on the play, one of six for Almaden on the evening, sent Garcia to second. Ramirez singled Garcia to third. Garcia scored when the ball slipped out of the Almaden catcher’s hand while he was threatening to throw Garcia out at third.
Daniel Arevalo then sat on a 1-1 pitch from J.D. Correa and sailed his third home run of the tournament 210-feet to center field. All three of Arevalo’s home runs came against Almaden.
“That kid’s a stud,” said Patel of Arevalo. “He’s a stud. We tried to locate it outside, but even if we put it outside of the strike zone, he’d hack away at it. He’s strong.”
Correa, who looked not long for the game at that juncture, settled down. He held Hollister National scoreless from the third through fifth innings, pitching to just two batters over the minimum during that span.
All of a sudden, Almaden found itself back in the game with three runs in the bottom of fourth as Ramirez, who pitched the first 3.1 innings, began to tire. Enter the diminutive Rolo Robles who has a heart as big as a lion. Robles struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches. Correa’s infield single with the bases loaded brought one run home. A walk to Chad McCarthy scored another. Both runs were charged to Ramirez.
Hollister National scored three big insurance runs in the top of the sixth, all unearned. Arevalo ripped an RBI single to left for one run, then Casarez boomed a double to right-center for two more. Eric Escalante drove a double down the right field line and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. However, Casarez, who had scored easily, was sent back to third for leaving early. Escalante was wiped off the bases and was ruled out, one of those unique rules to Little League.
In analysis, Almaden certainly could rue stranding a multitude of baserunners – 14 in all. Credit Ramirez and Robles for making the pitches when they had to.
Hollister National also played much better defense than it did in the 7-6 defeat to Almaden on Tuesday. Arevalo made two fine plays at shortstop, one going to his right to throw out Jordan Penny in the third. The other when he fielded a tough grounder from Trevor Marino earlier in the inning. Arevalo’s throw pulled Cooper Sepulveda to his right just enough where Sepulveda couldn’t quite get his glove turned upwards as the ball was still touching the ground when Marino crossed the bag.
“Hollister National was the better team tonight,” said Patel. “They came out strong in the beginning of the game and their pitchers totally dominated us with their curveballs. We had a great run. I’m proud of our guys.”
“I have a great deal of respect for Almaden,” said Jerry Sepulveda. “Their hitters are very disciplined, they don’t beat themselves on the field and they are well-coached. And they have good sportsmanship.”
About 25 minutes after the game ended, the horns blared loudly as Hollister National rooters began to exit the Vets Park parking lot.
With the 2003 Section 5 banner in hand, up next for this Hollister National team – Division 2. Look out Cupertino! Here they come!
National notes: This is the second Hollister Little League 9-10 All-Stars team to go to Division, which is often referred to as NorCal State. The other was a Hollister National team in 1999. That team finished third….Costa hit the ball hard all three times up, lining out to shortstop in the third and flying out to center in the fifth….Arevalo flirted with the center field fence in the fourth, flying out to Stephen Johnson just a few feet short of the fence….Correa went the distance for Almaden….The seven-run differential breaks a streak of six consecutive one-run games for Almaden. Five were in this tournament, while another came in the title game of District 12….All four of Almaden’s hits were singles.
Late 11 year-old update: Hollister National was eliminated from the Section 5 11 year-old Tournament in Aptos last Monday, losing to Scotts Valley 7-4. “Our spirits were high,” said Hollister National manager Manny Amaral. “We played well in all aspects of the game. I’m proud of how the kids worked hard and played hard.”
Hol Nat 530 003 – 11 11 3
Alma 100 300 – 4 4 6
Ramirez, Robles (4) and Gonzalez; Correa and Patel, Silva (3). WP-Ramirez. LP-Correa. 2B – Casarez, Escalante (HN). 3 hits – Garcia, Arevalo (HN). 2 hits – Correa (A). 3 RBI –Â Arevalo (HN). 2 RBI – Casarez, Costa (HN).
