Babe Ruth 13s fall to host Lompoc in semis; team needs three
straight wins to claim Central California title
Lompoc – The San Benito 13-year-old Babe Ruth All-Star team is glad it has a mulligan. After an uncharacteristically poor performance Tuesday, San Benito knows it can ill afford any further letdowns if it is to realize its goal of a Central California state championship.
After back-to-back convincing wins to open the tournament over the weekend, San Benito fell 6-4 to host Lompoc in the late-afternoon semifinal, dropping the local 13-year olds to the losers’ bracket. San Benito must defeat Merced this afternoon and then beat Lompoc twice on Thursday to secure the title.
“It was just kind of a struggle for our team tonight,” manager Jerry Sepulveda said by telephone after the loss. “We just didn’t play baseball the way we can.”
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, San Benito loaded the bases in each of its first two at-bats, but managed to push across just one run.
Lompoc kept the pressure on, scoring two in the third and then single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to force San Benito to play catch-up throughout.
Pitchers Daniel Arevalo, Trevor Fabing and Jahz Gonzalez collectively allowed four runs via walks, and San Benito’s defense led to another Lompoc run.
Meanwhile, the clutch hits that propelled San Benito to a 3-0 win over Cotton Belt and a 14-1 blasting of Lemoore eluded the team in the state semifinal.
“We had runners at second and third three or four times, but we just didn’t get the hits to bring them home,” Sepulveda said. “We just knocked on the door. We were always close.”
San Benito faces Merced at 4pm this afternoon, a team that suffered a 4-3 loss to Lompoc in the opening round.
“They’re a pesky team,” Sepulveda said of Merced. “They’re very solid. They’re in every ballgame.”
Despite his team’s first loss of the postseason, San Benito’s manager has confidence it can rebound.
“I think if there’s one team in this tournament that can come back, it’s our team because of our pitching depth,” Sepulveda said.
