After losing to Santa Maria on Tuesday night, the San Benito
14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars triumphed over Visalia 11-0
Wednesday in the losers bracket of the Central California State
Tournament in Madera, and will advance to play the championship
round tonight.
Madera – After losing to Santa Maria on Tuesday night, the San Benito 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars triumphed over Visalia 11-0 Wednesday in the losers bracket of the Central California State Tournament in Madera, and will advance to play the championship round tonight.
The win over Visalia ended after five innings due to the 10-run rule, which saw San Benito score four times in the third inning, and six more times in the fourth.
Manager Jerry Sepulveda said the hitting on his squad was contagious, as Daniel Arevalo went 4-for-4 with two doubles, while Tucker Carillo-Zazueta and Conner Stevens each contributed strong games.
“They were pretty scrappy – tough and tight defensively,” Sepulveda said of Visalia. “We just hit the ball pretty well tonight.”
The manager added that since Visalia’s first game was a loss, they’ve been battling back through the losers bracket, and they were most likely spread thin for pitching on Wednesday.
As for San Benito’s pitching, starter Arevalo and reliever Eddie Vargas combined for five innings pitched, and allowed one hit.
The team will now play in the championship round, slated for tonight at 6pm against Santa Maria.
After Tuesday’s loss, though, San Benito will need to take revenge twice on Santa Maria in the championship round since the local All-Stars currently sit with one loss, while Santa Maria remains undefeated in the double-elimination state tourney.
But Sepulveda believes his team can pull out a pair of wins against their title opponent, especially after Tuesday’s 15-6 loss to Santa Maria was much closer than the final score suggests.
Sepulveda said his San Benito squad trailed 7-6 in the top of the seventh, had two outs and two strikes on the final batter.
“And they scored eight runs,” he said. “We were that close to getting out of the inning, but they just started hitting the ball. We were one ground ball away from getting out of the inning.
“It was just that close. The kids played good, and they hit the ball very, very well.”
In the bottom of the seventh, San Benito even had two runners on base at one point, but couldn’t mount a comeback in the end.
If San Benito wins the first game at 6pm, the second game will commence 30 minutes after the first game.
“Everybody is available that we need available,” Sepulveda said. “I like our chances, especially if we can win that first game. That’ll put a lot of pressure on those other guys.”
