Encino Colt All-Stars Open Against Puerto Rico in World Series Tournament

Ron McMackin has a hard time explaining his Encino Colt All-Star team’s come-from-behind win in the second game of a doubleheader Sunday against Chula Vista. The victory qualified the team for the Colt World Series this week in West Lafayette, Ind.

Encino overcame an 11-1 deficit against Chula Vista, scoring five runs in the fourth inning and six runs in the sixth.

“At the beginning it was our biggest nightmare,” said McMackin, whose team will play Puerto Rico tonight in a first-round game. “We just kept chipping away. Whenever a team has taken a lead we usually come right back. But it was never that deep before. It was the most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen.”

Encino (11-1) will represent the Western Zone in the eight-team, double-elimination World Series. Upon arriving in Indiana on Monday, McMackin was impressed by the size of the tournament ballpark.

The field is 415 feet deep in center field and extends 375 feet in the gaps--dimensions larger than Dodger Stadium.

“The field is not really conducive to offense,” McMackin said. “We’re a very offensive team. The fences are pretty far, which may take the long ball away from us.”

Encino has hit 22 home runs in 12 games.

McMackin hopes his pitching staff can make up for any lack of offense.

“We have people that throw a lot of strikes, but we don’t have anybody that’s getting a lot of strikeouts. It’s going to take awful good pitching to win it all.”

Brian Rosselli of Alemany High (2-0) will probably start against Puerto Rico, McMackin said. The rest of the Encino pitching rotation includes Bobby Aparicio of San Fernando, Jeff Cirillo of Providence, Shawn Bowen of Hart and Chatsworth’s John Haselbusch.

Haselbusch and Cirillo are also two of Encino’s best hitters.

Haselbusch hit a grand slam in the win over Chula Vista, while Cirillo’s .439 batting average puts him among the team leaders, along with Polytechnic’s Luis Porres (.585), Notre Dame’s Rex McMackin (.470) and Joel Wolfe of Chatsworth (.400).

J.R. Trujillo of Kennedy leads the team in home runs with five. McMackin has four and Porres, Wolfe and Montclair Prep’s Jeff Light have three.

McMackin considers Puerto Rico to be a strong team, but he’s not concerned over meeting them in the first round.