Team falls early
&
amp; can’t climb out; Manteca atones for earlier loss to
eliminate Hollister in 17-0 blowout
Manteca – After a red-hot start to the tournament, Hollister’s 15-year-old All Stars looked primed to challenge for the Babe Ruth District 1 title. But the team’s hopes came crashing down with two straight defeats in Manteca.
After blowing out its first two opponents in the field, Hollister could have advanced to the district championship game with a victory Wednesday. But the team lost that game and then followed up with a crushing blow, suffering a 17-0 loss to host Manteca on Friday that eliminated Hollister.
“It was the worst game we played to date,” manager Tim Furtado said. “Didn’t play well defensively. Didn’t hit well. Didn’t play well. So we’re out. Not much to tell.”
The loss marked a stunning turn of events from the early stages of the tournament. In its first game, Hollister thumped the same Manteca team, 13-3. The opening-round blowout was such a convincing domination that the 10-run rule was invoked and Hollister prevailed in just five innings.
But Friday, Manteca turned the tables. Suffering some tough plays in the field, Hollister never quite recovered and only fell deeper into its hole.
“Missed some balls,” Furtado lamented. “It just wasn’t there. The breaks just weren’t there. It was just their day. Not our day.”
Hollister’s manager said the talent on his team had him thinking the players could rebound from their error-marred loss to Tracy on Wednesday. But defensive mistakes again loomed significant as Hollister was knocked out of the double-elimination tournament.
“Players maybe let that get to them a little bit,” said Furtado of the team’s inability to recover from its play in the field. “Hopefully, they learn from that.”
Nevertheless, after finishing the tournament with a 2-2 record that included a 10-3 victory over Ripon, Hollister headed home chalking the loss up to an unfortunate poor showing.
“I don’t think they’re hanging their heads about (the loss),” Furtado said. “They just didn’t play their game today.”
