Sweetwater Valley Little League’s 12U all-star team’s lucky monkey mascot first made its appearance in the dugout during the team’s memory-making run to the 2015 Little League World Series.
It made the trek for a second time to the LLWS West Region tournament in San Bernardino this week.
The West Region tournament is considered part of the actual Little League World Series, with games telecast on the ESPN network platform and streamed live around the globe.
The team was hoping its magic would return following Sunday’s 4-2 loss to Hawaii state champion Central East Maui in the opening round of games.
Sunday’s setback to a near-flawless Hawaii team dropped the newly minted Southern California champions to the elimination bracket, facing another loss to prematurely end their season.
The Sweetwater Smashers defeated Utah state champion Washington Little League, 15-2, on Tuesday to draw Arizona state champion Sunnyside Little League from Tucson in Wednesday’s second round of elimination games.
Unfortunately for the Bonita team, the lucky monkey’s luck ran out in an 8-6 loss.
With the win the Arizonans advanced to Friday’s semifinal game; Sweetwater Valley finished fourth in the six-team regional tournament with the loss.
The District 42 champions ended summer all-star play with an overall 14-3 record in 17 games, winning championship banners at the district, section and divisional levels.
It was fun while it lasted.
Shock the monkey
Sunday’s opening game against Central East Maui, the Hawaii state champion, expected to be a challenging contest. Hawaii won last year’s Little League World Series championship while a team from the islands came home with this year’s Pony-13 International World Series title to establish a tradition for excellence.
The temperature at game time was 95, down from 102 for the preceding Northwest Region game between Montana and Alaska.
The SoCal-Hawaii contest played out in uncharacteristic fashion as Sweetwater Valley committed three errors and gave up two unearned runs. It was the two runs that scored on wild pitches that proved to be the difference in the game.
It appeared that Hawaii starting pitcher Logan Kulolia might even throw a no-hitter after holding the SoCal champions hitless through four innings while amassing a 3-0 lead.
Sweetwater Valley batters hit the ball hard off Kulolia but every screaming liner seemed to fall harmlessly into a Hawaii fielder’s glove. Central East Maui fielders made all the plays, including a couple of electrifying diving catches to deny potential extra-base hits.
Joey Castillo finally got the District 42 champs going with their first hit of the game with one out in the top of the fifth inning. He came around to score on a double to the wall by Ethan Otero. However, Otero was caught in a rundown between second and third bases to blunt what could have been a big inning as Kapono Nakanelua followed with a base hit.
Sweetwater Valley scored its second run in the top of the sixth inning as Josh Hughes doubled and came home on a single by Daniel Sanchez.
Game photos by Phillip Brents
Staying alive
Sweetwater Valley won five consecutive games to capture the Division III tournament championship. The team drew on that experience in winning Tuesday’s elimination game by a run-rule margin while playing in 104-degree heat.
Sweetwater Valley’s bats came alive against Utah with 15 hits. The Bonitans scored runs in bunches, including five in the third inning and seven in the fifth inning.
Hughes led SVLL with three hits and five RBI, belting a two-run double in the third inning and a two-run home run in the fifth inning. He actually finished with three RBI in the fifth inning by adding a run-scoring single as the Smashers batted around in the frame.
Sweetwater Valley batted around twice in the game.
Sweetwater Valley recorded 15 hits and 15 runs in recording their only win at the West Region tournament. Photos by Jon Bigornia
Garcia had three hits and three RBI while Daniel Sanchez collected two hits and drove in one run.
Otero pitched the opening three innings, with relief help from Adrik Sanchez and Hughes, to limit Utah to six hits. Sanchez and Hughes both struck out the side in their respective inning of work.
Sweetwater Valley never led in Wednesday’s must-win contest, trailing by scores of 6-0 and 8-1 before scrambling to score five runs in the final two innings.
Hughes tripled in three runs while Daniel Sanchez drove in two runs, launching a solo home run in the fourth inning.
Too many errant plays added up to doom the SoCal champions.
The Tucson team scored one run on a throwing error, one run on a wild pitch, one run on a passed ball and another run on a double steal.
Cristobal Lorta hit a three-run home run and later added a solo shot to pad early cushion for the Arizonans while collecting four RBI in the process.
A personal highlight for SVLL: Hughes struck out 11 batters in four innings of relief work at the region tourney while driving in eight runs in the three games.
Utah and Sweetwater Valley players exchange gifts prior to Tuesday’s elimination game. Photo by Jon Bigornia
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Hot corners
All the teams at the West Region tournament felt the heat one way or another.
Hawaii rallied from a 5-4 deficit to edge Arizona, 6-5, in Monday’s winners bracket game to advance to Thursday’s semifinal against Northern California, which defeated Utah, 17-5, on Monday.
Hawaii rolled across five runs in the first inning of Thursday’s game en route to a 13-3 run-rule victory to bounce Nor Cal to Friday’s second semifinal game.
In Tuesday’s other elimination game, Arizona blasted Nevada by a score of 13-1 to advance to meet Sweetwater Valley on Wednesday.
Nevada and Utah both finished 0-2 in the tournament while Sweetwater Valley finished 1-2. Arizona, Nor Cal and Hawaii battled it out for the top three spots in the six-team field.
Nor Cal opened the tourney with a 3-0 win over Nevada before improving to 2-0 with the win over Utah.
Arizona made it three wins in a row by squeezing out a 3-2 walk-off win over Northern California in Friday’s semifinals. Trailing 2-1, Tucson Sunnyside plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to advance to Saturday’s championship against Central East Maui.
Juan Hernandez (3.2 innings) and Lorta (2.1 innings) combined for 14 strikeouts, fanning seven each, in the win. Bor Cal’s Chase Bentley pitched 5.2 innings, striking out six Arizona batters while throwing 23 first-pitch strikes.
Francisco Roviro and Jorge Zazueta both recorded two hits for Sunnyside.
Point of view from District 42: administrator Ernie Lucero
On the road to determine the 2019 Southern California champions, District 42 All-Star teams have been very successful.
Our 10’s all-star team from Chula Vista American Little League performed outstanding. It’s been some time in recent memory that a Chula Vista American Little League team qualified to play in the Southern California tournament. It’s a feat worth noting because in order to play in this regional/state tournament, as in all others, you have to win at district and sectional levels.
Despite losing their first game, Chula Vista American never quit and nearly made it to the championship round. It goes without saying that the Chula Vista American Little League community is very proud of this 10-year-old team for advancing as far as it did. Martin Gutierrez managed his team with strong support from coach Brian Madden. Martin was able to lead his team while juggling his role as the league president and improving the fields at their facility. He is truly a dedicated volunteer for Little League Baseball and we are very proud of him. We know that he donates much of his time for all the kids in his league.
Our 11’s all-star team from Eastlake Little League once again showed its strength. This is the second year in a row that they finished high in the Southern California tournament. Manager Adam Villarreal’s approach to coaching the team is extremely positive, and it’s obvious that his players embraced his style of coaching. His coaches, Tom Alo and George Flores, were also instrumental in support of the kids and team. Although they lost a game, they stayed focused and managed to advance to the championship game. They will be looking forward to next year, and time will tell if this team can win the district and sectional titles and hopefully be our seventh team in 11 years to make it to the Western Region tournament in San Bernardino.
All of our nine Little Leagues in District 42 are very proud of the Sweetwater Valley Little League 12’s team playing at the Western Region tournament. This is our sixth team in 10 years to play for the opportunity to represent the West in Williamsport (Pa.) at the Little League United States and International championship tournament. The first team to play at Western Region in San Bernardino was the 1982 team from South Bay Little League — 27 years ago. Since then, Park View, Eastlake and Sweetwater Valley have made appearances — some repeat appearances.
Sweetwater Valley made its first appearance in San Bernardino in 2015. The fan base and community support that follows this team is large and amazing, then and continuing today. The kids obviously feel that. These players had to win many games to reach this point, and no matter what happens, they will always remember this journey in their childhood.
I want to give a huge thanks to all of the South Bay officials who have been watching us and have been supportive of Little League and all of our teams. This includes San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox, Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas, and Chula Vista council members John McCann and Jill Galvez. And, of course, to all the players, coaches and families of District 42 Little League Baseball.
Opening Day Ceremony
Photos by Jon Bigornia
LITTLE LEAGUE WEST REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
All games at Al Houghton Stadium, San Bernardino
Sunday, Aug 4
Northern California (Maidu/Roseville) 3, Nevada (Paseo Verde/Henderson) 0
Southern California vs. Hawaii (Central East Maui) 4, Southern California (Sweetwater Valley) 2
Monday, Aug. 5
Northern California (Roseville) 17, Utah (Washington) 5
Hawaii (Central East Maui) 6, Arizona (Sunnyside/Tucson) 5
Tuesday, Aug. 6
Elimination game: Arizona (Sunnyside/Tucson) 13, Nevada (Paseo Verde/Henderson) 1
Elimination game: Southern California (Sweetwater Valley) 15, Utah (Washington) 2
Wednesday, Aug. 7
Elimination game: Arizona (Sunnyside/Tucson) 8, Southern California (Sweetwater Valley) 6
Thursday, Aug. 8
Winners bracket semifinal: Hawaii 13, Northern California 3
Friday, Aug. 9
Challenger bracket semifinal: Arizona (Sunnyside/Tucson) 3, Northern California (Roseville) 2
Saturday, Aug. 10
Championship game: Hawaii (Central East Maui) 4, Arizona (Sunnyside/Tucson) 1
LITTLE LEAGUE NORTHWEST REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
All games at Al Houghton Stadium, San Bernardino
Sunday, Aug 4
Washington (North Bothehll) 12, Wyoming (Gillette) 2
Montana (Billings Heights National) 1, Alaska (Sitka) 0
Monday, Aug. 5
Idaho (Coeur D’Alene) 5, Washington (North Bothell) 2
Oregon (Sprague/Salem) 8, Montana (Billings Heights National) 7
Tuesday, Aug. 6
Elimination game: Montana (Billings Heights National) 20, Wyoming (Gillette) 0
Elimination game: Washington (North Bothehll) 13, Alaska (Sitka) 3
Wednesday, Aug. 7
Elimination game: Washington (North Bothehll) 9, Montana (Billings Heights National) 2
Thursday, Aug. 8
Winners bracket semifinal: Oregon (Sprague/Salem) 8, Idaho (Coeur D’Alene) 5
Friday, Aug. 9
Challenger bracket semifinal: Idaho (Coeur D’Alene) 14, Washington (North Bothehll) 9
Saturday, Aug. 10
Championship game: Oregon (Sprague/Salem) 5, Idaho (Coeur D’Alene) 4
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