The Hollister Junior ‘Balers eight-and-under baseball team used seven pitchers to win the Fremont Baseball Inc. Memorial Day Tournament with a 4-1 record.
“There’s no way you can credit one person, one kid,” coach C.R. Gonzales said. “It was a total team effort.”
The team, comprised of players from Hollister Little League, had to battle its way to the championship through the loser’s bracket after a tough 4-3 defeat on the first day of play. Josh Tonascia and Andrew Sotelo combined for 12 strikeouts in the team’s Game 1 loss to Pleasanton on May 27.
The Junior ‘Balers shut out Livermore the following day behind the pitching of Sage Valenzuela and Junior Rodriguez. The two hurlers combined for 13 strikeouts. In its third game, Hollister beat the host team, Fremont, 7-3, as Tim Manderson, Adam Gonzales, and Sotelo combined for the victory.
On Memorial Day, Hollister faced Blossom Valley in Game 4 for the right to advance to the title game. The Junior ‘Balers earned their third win of the tournament, 7-3, behind the pitching of Tyler Biersdorff and Valenzuela, who combined for 11 strikeouts.
The championship game pitted Hollister against Pleasanton in a rematch of the first game of the tourney. After failing to score despite loading the bases in the first inning, the Junior ‘Balers came alive in the second. Junior Rodriguez doubled and Adam Gonzales followed with a single to knock in the first run of the game. After Drew Williams reached first on a two-out error, Ian Dobbs cemented the win with a two-run double.
“We probably should’ve won the first game. It was good that they were able to come back and avenge that loss,” Gonzales said. “We had help. Every kid contributed to the wins. We had a great series hitting.”
Tonascia and Sotelo combined on a three-hitter for the victory. Hollister pitchers held opposing batters to a .196 batting average in the tourney, while the Junior ‘Balers hit .422 as a team.
