San Gabriel Valley All-Stars have World Series game postponed
Having successfully navigated its way through pool-play competition, the San Gabriel Valley 16-18 Babe Ruth All-Star team prepared for a quarterfinal game Tuesday night in the World Series in Ephrata, Wash.
Unfortunately for San Gabriel, its contest against the host Columbia Basin Desert Dogs was postponed because of inclement weather.
San Gabriel Valley, featuring a handful of Crescenta Valley High products and Glendale Community College baseball players and piloted by Crescenta Valley baseball Coach Phil Torres, is now scheduled to face Columbia Basin at 11 a.m. Wednesday with the winner advancing to a semifinal game against the Klamath Falls Cardinals of Oregon at 5 p.m.
“It was pretty crazy weather,” San Gabriel Valley pitcher Brian Gadsby (Crescenta Valley) said. “There was lightning and thunder in the area and the winds were gusting pretty good.”
Now, SGV has the unfortunate task of having to play two games, both elimination contests, in one day.
“It’s going to make it a little bit harder now,” Gadsby said. “If we win the first game, then we will play a few hours later. We’ve already been in a situation where we’ve had to play two games in one day.”
The other semifinal game will feature a matchup between Team Cape Cod of Massachusetts against the Alabama Rawdogs at 2 p.m. Wednesday. The championship contest will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday. San Gabriel Valley last won the World Series in 2007 and has won the championship three times under Torres since 2004.
After beginning the World Series with a 7-2 pool-play win against the Columbia Basin River Dogs on Thursday, San Gabriel Valley won a pair of pool-play games Saturday.
San Gabriel Valley, which captured the Pacific Southwest Regional championship, opened with a 9-3 win against Tri-Counties of Pennsylvania. Raul Camas of Glendale Community College hit a three-run home run in the fourth to give San Gabriel Valley a 7-1 lead. Nick Carino collected three hits for San Gabriel Valley.
It then posted a 3-2 win against the Charlestown Fighting Squirrels of Missouri. San Gabriel Valley scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh to take a 3-2 advantage, capped by a sacrifice fly by Alex Labor.
On Sunday, San Gabriel Valley suffered a 6-2 pool-play defeat against Alabama. Brett Klein of Crescenta Valley and Alex Briggs each drove in a run for San Gabriel Valley.
“I thought we played well throughout the first four games,” the UCLA-bound Gadsby said. “Our bats were alive in the first two games and we played well defensively in the next two games. It was a tough loss against Alabama.”
--
Follow Charles Rich on Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich .
