It was a bittersweet ending for the Hollister National 9- and
10-year-old All-Stars, who finished runner-up at the Northern
California Division II Tournament.
San Jose – It was a bittersweet ending for the Hollister National 9- and 10-year-old All-Stars, who finished runner-up at the Northern California Division II Tournament.
The local Little League squad lost two games in the championship round last weekend at the NorCal tourney, falling to Davis American 5-4 in game one on Saturday and 1-0 in game two on Sunday.
While National’s two edge-of-your-seat losses didn’t make for a perfect weekend at the East Hills Little League in San Jose, the 9- and 10-year-olds realized after the game that among some 500 Little League teams in Northern California, they were one of two left standing.
“We made it this far, and it’s just nice to be here,” said Greg Moreno, who was the starting pitcher on Sunday. “We had a great season.”
Added teammate Austin Ryder, “It was good to be here.”
Despite the losses, National Manager Adam Breen and assistant coaches Mark Haworth and Mike Martinez were constantly being water soaked by their exuberant National players after the game. In the end, Breen reminded his squad they were one of the two best teams in Northern California.
“We reminded them that it’s tough,” Breen said. “But they’ve got two more years of Little League left. We represented Hollister well. Next year, they’ll be introduced as the district champs and the section champs. That’s not going to change.”
National entered the double-elimination tournament undefeated after scoring a 7-2 win over Porterville and a 6-5 win against Davis American last Wednesday.
On Saturday in game one of the championship round, National plated two runs in the first inning after Andrew Breen ripped a single to left field. Davis’ left fielder couldn’t play the hard hit ball, and Breen hustled to third base while Andrew Sotelo scored from first. Breen would later score on a fielder’s choice groundout from Moreno.
After Davis tied the score at 2-2, National reclaimed the lead on an RBI single from John Batelle, scoring Breen. National added to its lead when Tommy Hernandez connected for an RBI double, scoring JoJo Telles from second.
However, in the bottom of the sixth, Davis loaded the bases with one out, and didn’t stop until they scored three runs on three hits to take a 5-4 win, with the winning run plated on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch.
National’s starting pitcher Hunter Haworth had a strong performance, throwing five innings, allowing three runs on five hits and striking out four. He was relieved after he exhausted his pitch total.
The win by Davis, however, set up Sunday’s deciding game, which wasn’t actually decided until the sixth inning.
Both teams remained scoreless behind stellar pitching efforts from National’s Moreno and Davis’ John Ariola.
Moreno pitched five shutout innings, allowed four hits and struck out three, while Ariola threw five shutout innings, allowed four hits and struck out eight.
Davis scored the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth inning after a bases loaded hit-by-pitch. Offensively, Andrew Sotelo, Garrett Kelly and John Batelle each had singles for National, and Andrew Breen contributed a double.
“Obviously, when you lose a game 1-0, that shows that you’re in the game,” Adam Breen said. “They were ready to go.”
After the game, Breen thanked his assistant coaches Haworth and Martinez, as well as all the Hollister fans – both National and American.
“When we’re playing other people, we rally behind our team, and we want to win one for Hollister,” said Breen, who commented on last year’s 9- and 10-year-old American team who won the Division II championship. “To send a team as far as they can for two straight years, I’m proud of that and the future looks bright.”
Looking toward next year, National’s Moreno said, “Hopefully we’ll win.”
“We’ll probably come back again,” said teammate Hernandez.
Added Ryder, “Hopefully, we can go all the way, all the way to Williamsport (Pennsylvania),” home of the Little League World Series.
