Hollister American teammates crowd around home plate after another home run - the team hit three on the day - during Saturday's 9-5 victory against Hollister National at Vets Park in Hollister.
Fresno State's Steve Detwiler, who hit two home runs and knocked in six RBIs in his team's College World Series victory against Georgia, speaks with members of the Hollister American 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars before their game against Ferrasci on Sunday in Hollister.
In a game befitting the Fourth of July weekend, the opening round District 9 11- and 12-year-old All-Star match-up between Hollister American and Hollister National supplied plenty of fireworks this past Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park.
Sparked by three home runs, American, which trailed National 5-2 at one point, rallied to not only tie the game at 5-all but stake claim to a 9-5 victory in the opening round.
"We were able to chip away," American manager Robert Fabing said. "It showed that we've got some fire power to battle back against a good pitcher."
The win, coupled with Sunday's 11-0 victory against Ferrasci, places American into the semifinals, where they'll play Hartnell Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. on Field No. 2 at Vets Park.
National played North County Monday, and rebounded rather resoundingly with a 25-0 win that was called after four innings. Tyler Fhurong and Cade Vallejo each tagged grand slams in that game - each came in the same inning - while Greg Moreno, Andrew Breen, Hunter Haworth and Vallejo combined for a no-hitter.
National will play King City Tuesday night on Field No. 3 at 5:30 p.m. at Vets Park.
If another meeting between the two Hollister teams is in the future, however, it may just come in Saturday's championship round, meaning National will need to win four straight games.
"We've definitely got our work cut out for us," coach Adam Breen said. "We'll hopefully take that momentum from the first game and carry it through."
In front of a large crowd of supporters dressed in blue for the National side and red for American, the local teams came out slugging in the first inning Saturday.
After two quick outs to start the game, Hollister American got on the board when Robert Soto reached on a fielder's choice and cleanup hitter Chris Manderson launched a two-run home run to right field to make the score 2-0.
The National side came right back in the bottom of the first after Tyler Fhurong singled, Andrew Breen walked, Cody Freitas laid down a sacrifice bunt, and Nathan Alvarez connected on a two-run double to tie the score.
After National League starter Fhurong held American scoreless in the top of the second, his team captured the lead in the home half of the inning. With two outs, Hunter Haworth reached on a fielder's choice, Fhurong singled, and Breen connected on a three-run home run to left-center to give Hollister National a 5-2 lead.
A scoreless third inning was followed by an American League rally in the top of the fourth. With one out, Jordan Lopes singled to right, advanced to second on a passed ball, and went to third on a Dylan Yamasaki single. An infield hit by Cody Asp plated Lopes and Yamasaki scored on another passed ball to make the score 5-4.
American League starter Robert Soto held National scoreless in the bottom of the fourth before Marco Cosio tied it for American with a deep home run to left center in the top of the fifth.
With the score tied at 5-5 entering the final inning, Hollister American broke it open in the top of the sixth off two National relievers. With one out, Cody Cameron hit American's third homer of the day to make the score 6-5. A single by Daniel Gonzales and a walk to Josh George were followed by a single by Soto that scored Gonzales. A throwing error after the hit allowed George to score and bumped American's lead to 8-5. Manderson's hard groundball was misplayed to allow Soto to score to push the score to 9-5.
Soto got the first out of the bottom of the sixth before giving way to Manderson, who struck out the two batters he faced to secure the victory for Hollister American and send the National squad to the Elimination Bracket.
Perhaps blessed with the power of Fresno State's Steve Detwiler (see sidebar), American connected on three more homers against Ferrasci en route to an 11-0 win.
Chris Manderson, Marco Cosio and Jordan Lopes all homered, and American pounded out 14 total hits in the four-inning victory.
"We're swinging the ball well and putting the ball in play," Fabing said.
All-star games continue nightly at Vets Park throughout the week with the championship round slated for this coming weekend.
Detwiler speaks to American club
Steve Detwiler, who played outfield for the Fresno State Bulldogs, spoke to the Hollister American 11- and 12-year-old All-Stars Sunday before their game against Ferrasci in the Major All-Star Tournament in Hollister.
Detwiler, a major part in Fresno's clinching Game 3 victory against Georgia in the College World Series last month, discussed the importance of having fun and playing hard to the local American All-Stars. He was later "hounded" for autographs by those players in attendance, according to American manager Robert Fabing.
Detwiler, who's team defeated Georgia 6-1 in Game 3, knocked in all six runs for Fresno State en route to the College World Series victory, including two home runs.
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Best in the bus business, again
