Both teams couldn’t mount any offense in the seventh, but in the
eighth, Cameron doubled to right-center field, and was later
knocked in as the winning run after Yamasaki’s single to left
field.
By Andrew Matheson
Hollister – “It doesn’t matter who’s better than whom,” said Hollister American Manager Al Lopes on Sunday, “when Hollister plays each other, they’re classic battles.”
That sentiment was true over the weekend in the 10-11-year-old District 9 All-Star Tournament that pitted Hollister American against Hollister National. The two teams, playing for a chance to compete in the Section 5 All-Star Tournament slated for this week, went the distance over the weekend in a pair of championship round games.
Coming from the loser’s bracket, Hollister National needed to beat Hollister American twice to advance to the sectional tournament, and on Saturday in Salinas at American Little League, Hollister National pushed Hollister American to a second game.
Down 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth, National plated four runs for a 6-5 win, and forced a second meeting between the two teams in Hollister.
In Sunday’s second game, National scored the tying run in the bottom of the sixth again, sending the game to extra innings. In the top of the eighth, though, American’s Dylan Yamasaki singled to left field to score Cody Cameron from second base, in what would be the winning run.
“I was proud of the fact that we came back,” National Manager Celso Lopez Jr., said. “It does leave a sour taste in your mouth, but in the end, I’m proud of these guys.”
Said Lopes, “It could have been either team moving on. Just the balls bounced in our favor today.”
Hollister National 6,
Hollister American 5
American scored all five of their runs in the first two innings on Saturday, forcing National to play catch-up for the rest of the game.
In the sixth inning down 5-2, National’s Cody Bohannan, Gaelen Bannister, and Steven Davis all led off the sixth with a single. A fielding error after a Nathan Alvarez hit scored Bohannan; Bannister was safe on a play at the plate after Ben Cobb put the ball in play; and Davis would score on an overthrow to home plate, tying the game at 5-5.
With the bases loaded and one out, a pitch in the dirt sent a sprinting Alvarez to home plate, where he slid under the tag for the winning run, and subsequently cleared the National’s bench for a dogpile behind home plate.
The win for National evened the records for the two teams. Both teams now had one loss in the double elimination tournament, setting up Sunday’s deciding game in Hollister.
Hollister American 9,
Hollister National 8 (eight innings)
For the second time in as many days, Hollister American scored frequently in the first inning, this time plating five runs in the top half of the first.
After a throwing error scored Cody Cameron from second base, Jordan Lopes hit a two-run single to push American up 3-0. Marcos Perez then followed with a two-run homer to dead-center field, easily clearing the 200-foot wall at Veterans Memorial Park, and increasing American’s lead 5-0.
“You can’t give a team like that five runs in the first inning,” Lopez said. “Don’t get me wrong, we almost pulled it out. But they’re a good team, and when you give away that many extra outs, it’s tough.”
In the bottom half, though, Nathan Alvarez made up some ground when he hit a two-run homer, and cut the lead to 5-2.
Later in the game, American’s Cody Cameron hit a solo shot to increase the lead to 8-5. In the fifth, National’s Greg Steinbeck smashed a two-run shot over the left-center field wall to cut the lead to 8-7, setting up, once again, the bottom of the sixth inning.
“They were a good team. None of my leads were safe,” Lopes said.
In the sixth, National had a pair of runners in scoring position when John Canes singled up the middle, scoring Gaelen Bannister for the tying run and sending the game to extra innings.
Hollister American 10-11s defeat National squad for District 9 All-Star championship
Both teams couldn’t mount any offense in the seventh, but in the eighth, Cameron doubled to right-center field, and was later knocked in as the winning run after Yamasaki’s single to left field.
American reliever Marco Cosio picked up the win in the eighth inning.
“I was proud of them. Battles like that and the way they prevailed make the marks of a championship team,” Lopes said. “It makes them grow…It was good for them to battle in those sets of circumstances.”
Said Lopez, “Down 5-0, (National) could have packed it in right there. We fought hard. I’m real proud of them….We closed the gap, and hopefully next year, you can get over that hump.”
Now, Hollister American will be off to the Section 5 All-Star Tournament, slated for Campbell Little League in Campbell, just outside San Jose. American will open against District 12 Saratoga on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Lopes said he likes his team’s chances, a team that includes members of last year’s 9-10-year-old team who won district, section, and the Northern California Divisional Tournament.
“That’s going to help a lot,” Lopes said of the 9-10’s success. “They’ve been there and they’ve been in those tough situations.
“And we got a little taste of it right here. We hadn’t been tested at all in the district until we played Hollister National.”
Hollister National 9-10 get the better of their American counterpart for title
Hollister – When Hollister American and Hollister National met up in the semifinals last Wednesday in the District 9 All-Star Tournament, Hollister National won 12-2 via the 10-run rule.
On Saturday, the two teams met up again in the 9-10-year-old championship at Continental Little League in Salinas, and American returned the favor, upending National 13-2, forcing a deciding game in Hollister on Sunday.
“That was unbelievable. I mean, you never see that — two 10-run games,” American Manager Robert Fabing said.
On Sunday, with both teams vying for a chance to play in the Section 5 All-Star Tournament, it was a much closer affair.
In the end, though, it was National who pulled ahead with a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning, and eventually held on to a 6-3 victory. They will now host the Section 5 All-Star Tournament, which will begin this weekend in Hollister.
“We told them they can take a lesson out of this,” Manager Adam Breen said of his National team. “We had won four games in a row, and then we got killed. And I think in a way it was good for us. We had not been tested really before that.
“And that’s the lesson there — especially in a double-elimination tournament. You have one bad day, and you’ve got to forget it and put it behind you.”
As for the 9-10 American team, who’s squad last year won the district, the section, and the Northern California Divisional Tournament, Fabing said that it’s a game of inches.
“We were the defending state champions until we got knocked out of this thing,” Fabing said. “We had a chance to win the whole way to the end. But now we support those guys. That’s a good team over there…Hopefully, they can continue the Hollister tradition, and win the section.”
Hollister American 13, Hollister National 2
Similar to the teams’ semifinal game, game one of the championship round didn’t start with a flurry of scoring, despite the final result.
In the bottom half of the third, with the game tied 2-2, American blew the game open, plating 11 runs in the inning, highlighted by a Zack Moeller single to the left field wall that scored Michael Marler from second base.
In the bottom half, with a 13-2 lead, American hurler Conner Fabing prevented National from cutting into the lead, despite runners on first and second, and the game ended due to the 10-run rule.
The win for American, which already had one loss in the double-elimination tournament, set up the deciding championship game in Hollister on Sunday.
Hollister National 6, Hollister American 3
In the second match, Fabing hit an RBI double in the first inning to put American on the scoreboard early in the game, a lead that would hold until the top of the fourth.
In the fourth, John Batelle and Greg Moreno singled to get on, and Austin Ryder walked to load the bases with one out. After Thomas Hernandez was hit by a pitch, scoring Batelle, Quinn Mendoza blooped a single into right field that scored Moreno and Ryder.
With a 4-3 lead, National would later add to it with an RBI double from Mendoza and an RBI single from Batelle.
Moreno, who did not play on Saturday due to a foot injury he suffered in the semifinals, played Sunday and eventually came into pitch.
“We didn’t know until (Sunday) morning that he could play, let alone pitch,” Breen said of Moreno, who was at 97 percent. “He came to us and said he wanted to pitch. It killed him to not play (on Saturday).”
Moreno struck out two batters in the bottom of the sixth, despite American getting runners on first and third base, and closed the door on a 6-3 win.
“I’m just sorry we can’t continue to next week,” Fabing said. “The kids were great. The parents were great, and these kids worked hard…We did what Hollister usually does, and that’s two Hollister teams in the championship game.
“You can’t ask for anything else. We got the tying run to the plate, and still had a chance to win.”
Hollister National is now preparing for the Section 5 All-Star Tournament, which will bring four other teams to Hollister. National will have a bye on Friday, and will play their first game on Saturday at 7pm.
And with Hollister American winning it all last year, Breen expects teams will be gunning for Hollister National.
“Every team you’re playing is a district champ. There’s not going to be any easy games,” Breen said of the Section 5 tournament. “But we’re a different team. It’s a different year, and we hope to represent Hollister as well as they did.
“They gave us a lot to live up to. Hopefully, we can make Hollister proud.”
