National success story
- Share via
Charles Rich
With the area youth baseball season now concluded, all bats and
gloves have been cast aside.
Parts of California and the United States watched several local
teams reach the regional playoffs or participate in the World Series.
There were some fantastic finishes that touched off wild
celebrations among the 300-plus athletes who ditched their summer
vacations to excel in baseball.
Leading the pack was the North San Gabriel Valley All-Star team --
which featured eight local players. It won the 36th annual Babe Ruth
World Series in the 16- to 19-year-old division in Newark, Ohio.
On the local front, some teams won their respective titles at the
District 16 and Section 2 levels. Others competed in Babe Ruth
tournaments in California, Utah and Ohio.
Those teams that didn’t advance as far took part in memorable
games.
The area squads that competed for nearly two months in hot weather
and into the late evenings might look back on 2004 as a successful
year.
Time will tell.
Here’s a recap of how those teams fared:
NORTH SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
ALL-STAR 16- TO 19-YEAR-OLD BASEBALL
The North San Gabriel Valley All-Star baseball team came within a
few outs of reaching the World Series last year. Waiting another year
hardly mattered to North San Gabriel Valley, which clubbed and
pitched its way to the World Series trophy in the 16- to 19-year-old
division this year.
North San Gabriel Valley won the championship Saturday at the Babe
Ruth National Complex at Don Edwards Park in Newark, Ohio. It marked
the fifth time that North San Gabriel Valley, which was coached by
Crescenta Valley High Coach Phil Torres, captured the crown.
The squad, which featured Trevor Bell, the reigning News-Press
All-Area Player of the Year, won the crown in 1973, 1976, 1977 and
1979.
North San Gabriel Valley (12-2) earned an 8-2 win against
Worcester, Mass., in the championship game.
Bill Spottiswood (5-0) of Glendale Community College received the
tournament’s most outstanding player award. The sophomore drove in
three runs with a single and a two-run home run in the championship
game.
GCC’s Blake Gailen struck out six and scattered eight hits in a
complete game effort. He picked off a runner and induced Worcester to
hit into a pair of double plays.
North San Gabriel Valley, which went 3-1 in National Division
pool-play contests to earn a berth in the winner’s-bracket
semifinals, defeated Mineral Area, Mo., to reach the championship
game. In pool-play games, North San Gabriel Valley beat Newark, Ohio,
Hammond, Ind., and Mineral Area. It’s only tournament loss came in a
pool-play contest against Worcester.
North San Gabriel Valley advanced to the World Series after it won
the Pacific Southwest Regional in Watsonville. It outscored its
opponents by a 27-2 margin, including a 13-1 win against Castro
Valley in the tournament’s championship game.
Gailen, a left-hander, was named the tournament’s most valuable
player. He picked up two wins and gave Torres another reliable source
on the mound.
North San Gabriel Valley won the always-difficult Southern
California State Tournament at Arcadia High. Bell, a senior at CV,
hit two long home runs to ignite its offense.
North San Gabriel Valley opened the postseason with 11-1 and 9-0
victories against Arroyo Seco and El Segundo, respectively.
It then lost a 3-2 decision to San Gabriel Valley in the
championship game, before earning a 9-1 win in the if-necessary
contest.
Andy Marquardt and Brian Farris of St. Francis High made
contributions on offense and defense for North San Gabriel Valley,
which also got key efforts from Johnny Soberal and Scott Hodsdon of
Azusa Pacific University.
North San Gabriel Valley outscored its opponents, 102-29.
“This is neat, because it’s a group of kids you put together,”
Torres said. “The hard part is keeping them all together, and keeping
them pulling for each other.”
“They all sacrificed, and it was fun to see them all [celebrate]
afterward.”
9- AND 10-YEAR-OLD BASEBALL
Crescenta Valley -- coached by Tony Tellache -- captured the
District 16 championship. CV earned a 12-5 victory against the Jewish
War Veterans in the championship game of the all-star tournament at
Babe Herman Field. It marked the third consecutive year that CV
toppled JWV in the title game.
CV (5-2) had its season end in the Section 2 Tournament with a
10-4 loss to Temple City American.
Some of the key players for CV included Nate Rousey, Drew
Hoogenhuizen, Davis Dragovich and David Olmedo-Barrera.
JWV (3-2) was coached by Derek Chevalier.
MAJOR BASEBALL
With timely hitting and clutch pitching efforts, the High Temp
Metals won the Tri-Cities championship.
The 11- and 12-year-old squad beat Landry’s Sporting Goods, 12-6,
in the title game at Montrose Park.
In order for High Temp to reach the title game, it needed a strong
pitching performance by Lonnie Kauppila against Anthony Giannelli of
Dyrness Automotive in the winner’s-bracket final of the Tri Cites
Tournament at Babe Herman Field.
Kauppila, a right-hander, struck out a career-high 17 in a no-hit
effort to carry High Temp to a 1-0 victory in front of a large crowd.
The hard-throwing Giannelli pitched well, striking out 14 and
scattering three hits.
High Temp (26-3) would then prevail against Landry’s in convincing
fashion in the first All-CV Major division final since 1994 to
capture its second Tri-Cities crown in the past three years.
The CV All-Star team had arguably one of its best squads in recent
memory. CV won the District 16 title for the fourth time with a
lineup that posed many problems for opposing pitchers.
It’s lineup and pitching staff carried them to the district title.
In the Section 2 Tournament, CV earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory
against Pasadena Central in the championship game in Temple City.
CV scored a run in the first and second innings, and relied on
pitching trio of Kauppila, David Whitaker and Cole Kendall to turn
back Pasadena Central.
CV (8-2) saw its season end with a pair of losses in the Division
3 Tournament in Long Beach.
11-YEAR-OLD BASEBALL
Crescenta Valley, which was coached by Jeff Ward, won the
inaugural District 16 championship with a 12-0 win against the Jewish
War Veterans at Pacific Park. CV pitcher Kyle Pomeroy proved to be
king of the hill, as he tossed a perfect game and recorded nine
strikeouts.
CV surrendered 10 runs in district action, and had strong
performances from Pomeroy, Bobby Coffin, Andrew Fisher, James
Heinemann, Niko Horwith and Joey Sedano.
CV opened the Section 2 Tournament with a 2-1 win against Quartz
Hill, but it lost to Sherman Oaks and Quartz Hill to have its
postseason appearance end prematurely.
JUNIOR BASEBALL
Sean Carroll had three doubles and one triple to lead Hopkins
Construction to a 13-12 victory against Shakey’s Pizza in the
championship game of the Tri-Cities Tournament at Tujunga Little
League Field.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh
inning, Carroll lined a double to left, easily scoring Alex Bae,
Parry Gallagher and Jonathan Lee to win the game.
Hopkins had trailed, 6-1, but fought back to take a 10-8 lead,
only to watch Shakey’s score four runs in the sixth.
In the title game of the District 16 Tournament in the 13- to
14-year-old division, Tujunga scored six runs in the bottom of the
seventh inning to earn a 7-6 win against Crescenta Valley at Tujunga
Little League Field.
SENIOR BASEBALL
Geoff Yazzetta and Brian Bistagne played large roles in helping
Foothill-Tujunga this summer. Yazzetta scored the winning run to lead
the Senior Baseball All-Star team to a 4-0 victory against Northeast
Los Angeles in the if-necessary championship game of Section 2
Tournament at Almansor Park in Alhambra.
The run support proved to be enough for Brian Bistagne, a St.
Francis High senior. The right-hander struck out eight and scattered
four hits to propel Foothill-Tujunga (7-3).
Coach John DeGomez’s squad advanced to the Division 3 Tournament
in the 15- and 16-year-old division. Danny Casey, Ronnie Rohrer, John
DeGomez Jr. and Russell Stark excelled for Foothill-Tujunga, which
had its run end with a 13-3 loss to District 13 and Section 1 champion El Rio at Bryant Glen Sports Complex in Yucaipa.
BABE RUTH 13-YEAR-OLDS
Chad Kerly delivered a two-run single with two outs in the bottom
of the seventh inning to rally the La Crescenta Babe Ruth 13-year-old
All-Star team to an improbable 7-6 victory against Torrance in the
if-necessary final of the Southern California State Tournament at
Torrance Park.
Kerly lined a pitch from Torrance relief pitcher Luis Macias to
right center, and the ball glanced off the glove of centerfielder
William Kollmeyer, bringing home Travis Feldman and Myles Brady.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Kerly said.
Feldman picked up the victory in relief, surrendering one hit and
one run, in addition to striking out three in three innings.
The state title won by Brady’s squad followed the crown captured
by Tom Crowder and Mickey Moreno’s team last summer in Playa del Rey.
La Crescenta advanced to the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament
for the second consecutive year.
The Southern California champion competed in Jordan, Utah.
La Crescenta suffered a pair of tough losses in the
double-elimination tournament. It fell to Fresno Buchanan and Murray,
Utah.
BABE RUTH 14-YEAR-OLDS
For the third straight year, La Crescenta won the Southern
California Tournament. It beat host Simi Valley, 10-6, at Simi Valley
Babe Ruth Field.
Coach Thomas Lee’s squad became the third straight 14-year-old
team from La Crescenta to capture the state title, joining victories
by Gilbert Camacho’s team at Dunsmore Park in 2002 and Errol
Simonitsch’s group last year in Brawley.
La Crescenta relied on the clutch pitching of Justin Farzadkish
and Frank Montes to secure another berth in the Pacific Southwest
Regional Tournament in Murray, Utah.
Others who made large contributions included Andrew Vallejo,
Michael Sheridan, Trevor Gee, Garrett Salzman and Michael Dean.
La Crescenta was ousted after it fell to Oahu, Hawaii.
BABE RUTH 15-YEAR-OLDS
The La Crescenta Babe Ruth All-Stars made a name for themselves
nationally when they finished third at the 14-year-old World Series
in Quincy, Mass., last year
Most of the same faces returned from last year’s team, and La
Crescenta won the Southern California State Tournament title with an
8-1 win against Torrance in the championship game at Stengel Field.
La Crescenta, which was coached by Joe Sember, advanced to the
Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament at Stevenson Park in El
Segundo.
Some of the key players were Chad Nacapoy, Chase Doremus, Michael
Barajas, Andrew Sember, Matt Costanzo, Micah Dunham, Chris Johnson,
Cody Klein and Kam Krise.
La Crescenta opened the tournament with a 6-3 win against South
Reno, Nev., but then suffered a 7-3 setback to El Segundo in the
winner’s-bracket final.
It advanced to the championship game with a 9-6 win against
Bakersfield Southwest in the second-chance bracket final.
After 340 combined pitches were thrown, the El Segundo emerged
with an 11-9, nine-inning victory against La Crescenta to advance to
its sixth World Series in program history.