Quick Trip to Mexico Proves a Big Hit For Young Baseball Team
Sometimes the best plans don’t have to be on the drawing board for an eternity.
That’s what a group of young baseball players from several predominantly Latino communities in Los Angeles found out.
The 14 boys on the Northeast All-Stars, ranging in age from 15 to 19, spent a weekend in August playing a couple of Mexican teams in Baja California during a trip that basically was put together only two weeks before.
It was such a success that the team, including two new players, will do it again Oct. 18-20.
“The kids had a real good time. They got to see a little bit of their roots,” Coach Tony Vazquez said. “I enjoyed it like a little kid.”
The Lincoln Park-based team, which took second place in the senior division at the recently concluded Hollenbeck Games, originally was supposed to play one game on a Saturday and another on Sunday against the Primo Tapia team from Cantamar, near Rosarito.
But once there, they decided to play a doubleheader the first day and a single game the next afternoon. That was before they got challenged to yet another game, this time by the Rosarito Halcones, a professional team.
“They (Halcones) saw us play on Saturday and wanted to play us, so we scheduled a game with them on Sunday morning,” said Peter Toscano, an assistant coach with the All-Stars.
The Halcones beat the visitors, 4-3, but had to hang on in the bottom of the ninth inning when the All-Stars scored all their runs.
“We even had the bases loaded but kind of fizzled out after that,” Toscano said.
That wasn’t the case in the opening game against Primo Tapia. In that one, right-hander Joe Diaz did not give up a hit for the first four innings and went on to win, 6-3, with help from reliever Catarino Duenas. Left fielder Jose Gutierrez had a two-run double and shortstop Alex Garcia knocked in Gutierrez with a 450-foot triple off the center-field wall.
The All-Stars lost the second game, 4-3, but came back to win the third game after playing the Halcones. Garcia started on the mound and got the 6-2 decision, and Duenas picked up the save. Offensively, second baseman Johnny Carbajal had a two-run triple and third baseman David Vargas smacked a two-run double.
After the games Saturday, the All-Stars gathered for a barbecue with the Primo Tapia players and coaches. The Mexican team provided food for the visitors during their stay, and the Halcones, who will play the All-Stars next week, pledged to pay the meal expenses for that trip. The All-Stars each paid $40 for their motel accommodations; the transportation to Baja was courtesy of the coaches and some of the parents.
“They had such a good time, now everyone wants to go (on the next trip),” Toscano said. “It was a real good experience for the kids. Most of them had never been out of (Los Angeles) county for other than playing with their high school teams.”
One of those high schools, Lincoln, had nine current or former players on the squad: Carbajal, Diaz, Duenas, Alex Garcia, outfielder Frank Garcia, first baseman Peter Gonzalez, Gutierrez, outfielder Gilbert Vargas and David Vargas, now at Cal State Long Beach.
Others included catcher Oscar Gamboa and outfielder Tom Valenzuela of Salesian High, first baseman Javier Chavez of Pasadena City College, and third baseman David Cervantes and outfielder Mario Mercado of East Los Angeles College. Alonzo Aguilar, an All-City shortstop at Franklin, and Christopher Romero, an All-City pitcher who was 11-1 with a 0.58 earned-run average last season at Wilson, could not go but plan to be there next week.
Duenas, for sure, is eager to return. “It was the most fun I’ve had playing baseball for a long time,” said Duenas, who attends Cal State Los Angeles but is not playing on the team there. “I can’t wait to go back.”
Vazquez said he hopes the trips will give the players not only a chance to expand their personal horizons but also keep them interested in athletics.
“I’m trying to motivate these young Latino athletes who have the talent to stick with sports,” said Vazquez, a pitcher on the Los Angeles City College team that won the state junior college championship in 1977. “My satisfaction and my gratification is to see one of my kids make it to a college or the pros.’ ”