Hollister baseball still going; one team heads home, one
continues playing
A Division II Nor Cal State Title lies just two wins away for
Coach Adam Breen and his group of 10 and 11 year old all-stars.
The 10-11 year-old Hollister National All-stars defeated
Porterville Little League 7-2 in the team’s first game of the
tournament. They played Davis Little League Aug. 1 after press
time, and if Hollister beat Davis, they will be moving on to the
championship round in the tournament. The championship round will
begin August 4. A victory in the championship will give Hollister
Little League back to back state titles.
Hollister baseball still going; one team heads home, one continues playing
A Division II Nor Cal State Title lies just two wins away for Coach Adam Breen and his group of 10 and 11 year old all-stars.
The 10-11 year-old Hollister National All-stars defeated Porterville Little League 7-2 in the team’s first game of the tournament. They played Davis Little League Aug. 1 after press time, and if Hollister beat Davis, they will be moving on to the championship round in the tournament. The championship round will begin August 4. A victory in the championship will give Hollister Little League back to back state titles.
While the Hollister Little League All-stars are on the verge of another state title, Hollister’s Babe Ruth 14-year-old all-star squad came up just short in their bid for a state championship, which would have earned them a trip to Utah to play in the regional tournament.
The San Benito Babe Ruth squad started the tournament winning the first two games. Then the all-star team met their match when they went up against Santa Maria. Santa Maria cruised past San Benito with a 15-6 win and sent them to the losers bracket. San Benito bounced back quickly and defeated a competitive Visalia squad 11-0.
With that victory, a rematch was set. San Benito’s fate would be determined at the hands of Santa Maria.
In the championship game, the San Benito team jumped on Santa Maria quickly, scoring 9 runs in the first two innings. Santa Maria would not quit, however, and by the end of three innings the score was 9-6, and this game became a nail-biter.
The score was pushed to 13-13 going into the seventh inning. Santa Maria struck for the final time, scoring their fourteenth run of the game on a sacrifice-fly to centerfield. The run won the game and the tournament for Santa Maria and sent San Benito home heartbroken.
Head coach, Jerry Sepulveda, and his team traveled home in defeat, but respect and pride kept their spirits high.
“These kids have been playing baseball together for a long time,” Sepulveda said. “We are good competitors, but we took a tough loss. That is just the way baseball goes sometimes.”
Even though the team lost the tournament they did not leave the town of Madera without something to remember the experience.
Daniel Arevalo, who led the team in hitting with a batting average of over .500, took home the tournament MVP.
“The whole team hit great,” Sepulveda said. “We had two or three guys that hit over .500 for the whole tournament. But Daniel was a tough hitter and a real tough out.”
The sectional commissioner also gave credit to the Hollister squad on their consistency in baseball. Most of the kids on the team have been on All-star teams together since they were 10, and have never finished in lower than third place in a tournament.
“This group of kids are repeat offenders,” Sepulveda said. “They will take on any competition and are always right there.”
“I have a lot of respect for these kids,” Sepulveda said. “They put their heads down and get to work. No matter what, they didn’t complain about it. They are always a lot of fun to be around.”
