The San Benito 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars were simply
”
snake-bit at the wrong time.
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Madera – The San Benito 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars were simply “snake-bit at the wrong time.”
Last Thursday, in the championship round of the Central California State Tournament in Madera, San Benito lost a 14-13 heartbreaker to Santa Maria, with Santa Maria plating the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning, and eliminating the local All-Stars.
“We led the whole game. We just couldn’t put the nail in the coffin,” Manager Jerry Sepulveda said. “It was tough to watch the way we went out, because I think we could have won this tournament and been on our way to Utah right now.”
San Benito, who already had one loss on their record against undefeated Santa Maria, needed to upend their championship opponent twice to advance to the regional tournament in Utah.
“I’m very proud of these guys,” Sepulveda said. “They’re just a good bunch of kids and I’m proud to be associated with them and the coaches as well.”
San Benito had lost to Santa Maria last Tuesday 15-6, placing the squad into the losers bracket. They managed to bounce back, however, defeating Visalia 11-0 last Wednesday, setting up Thursday’s championship round matchup.
With Jose Perez on the mound – Santa Maria’s ace who hadn’t lost a game all season, Sepulveda said – San Benito scored five times in the first inning. They knocked Perez out of the game in the first, and continued to score a total of nine runs on nine hits in the first two innings.
“We just pounded the ball,” the manager said. “We played excellent baseball. I’m pretty proud of what our kids did.”
Santa Maria responded, though, with a pair of three-run efforts in both the first and third innings. While San Benito plated three runs in the fifth, and one more in the sixth, Santa Maria tied the game with a six-run sixth inning.
With the score tied 13-13, Santa Maria plated the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to center field.
“It was fun to watch these two teams play, regardless of the outcome,” Sepulveda said.
San Benito threw four different pitchers against Santa Maria, including Jahziel Gonzalez, Dillon DiNapoli, Rolando Robles and Eddie Vargas. Gonzalez would pitch for a second time later in the ball game, and the foursome combined for seven strikeouts and allowed eight hits.
At the plate, San Benito combined for 13 hits, with Mark Hurley leading the way with a 4-for-5 day. Ricky Garcia and Cooper Sepulveda each had a pair of hits as well.
“It was tough to watch this game because they work so hard at practice,” Sepulveda said. “They just do their thing. They go to work and are a good, blue-collar team.”
Central California State Tournament
Three members of the San Benito 14-year-old Babe Ruth All-Stars were selected to the All-Tournament team at the Central California State Tournament, according to their manager, Jerry Sepulveda.
Ricky Garcia, Mark Hurley and Daniel Arevalo were named to the All-Tournament team, with Arevalo garnering the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
“That’s how well our team played and that’s how well he played,” Sepulveda said of his team and Arevalo. “The tournament staff said he was hands-down, the MVP of the tournament.”
