California District 42 Little League wrapped up its annual Tournament of Champions event with four championship games Monday at the Imperial Beach Little League complex at IB Sports Park.
The evening started off with a full house, which only seemed to grow, attesting to the popularity of the event.
“We have had more people coming out to the games than any other year,” district administrator Ernie Lucero said with a smile. “This is the first year we’ve had the 7U division and with the teams making great plays and support from people attending the games, it has been a success. The kids have been playing so amazing.”
Chula Vista American Little League came out as the biggest winner at this year’s event by capturing three championship banners, including the latest two on Monday in the 6U and 7U divisions.
CVA defeated Eastlake, 12-3, to win the 6U championship and recorded a dramatic 4-3 win over Sweetwater Valley with a run in the final inning to win the 7U nightcap.
The CVA Yankees previously won the Major Division championship by scoring an intrepid 3-2 walk-off win over the Imperial Beach Rockies on June 15.
In Monday’s other games, Sweetwater Valley defeated Eastlake Little League, 9-2, to win the 8U championship while Park View Little League held off Sweetwater Valley to claim a 6-5 victory in the Minor Division championship game.
Chula Vista American’s 7U team won last year’s 6U TOC championship, making them back-to-back champions.
CVA president Martin Gutierrez is obviously proud of the showing by the league in this year’s TOC event.
“Last year it started with the 6’s who are now the 7’s,” Gutierrez said. “We did some work on the fields to make it a better environment for all the teams. It motivated them. It all has to do with the coaches we choose to represent the kids at CVA.”
Batter up
Both the 6U and 7U divisions are played with a pitching machine, though a fielder is present in the pitching area.
CVA scored four runs in its half of the first inning while Eastlake scored three times to make the game close early on. However, CVA pulled away by adding one run in the third inning and three more in the fourth inning to take an 8-3 lead.
CVA put the game out of reach with four more runs in the fifth inning to win by a margin of nine runs.
Four players each scored two runs for CVA: Anthony Burgos, Alejandro Rivera, Collin Hayes and Aaron Topf. Alec Espinoza-Smalls, Jacob Sanchez, Josiah Gallegos and Sebastian Pino all scored single runs in support.
Cash Mora, Jaxson Fraijo and Josiah Ziomek each scored runs for Eastlake.
Lucky 7s
Chula Vista American built an early 3-0 lead in the 7U final before Sweetwater Valley rallied to tie the game with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Adam Bailey, Collin Link and Moizes Miramontes each scored runs for Sweetwater Valley to deadlock the score. However, CVA rallied in the top of the next frame to go ahead, 4-3, as Dominik Paredes and Sammy Feria recorded back-to-back hits to place runners in scoring position.
Paredes was unable to score on an ensuing groundout but did come home on a base hit by teammate Evan Bortscheller.
Sweetwater Valley placed the potential game-tying run on base in the bottom of the sixth inning but was unable to advance the runner as CVA recorded the final out on a fielder’s choice.
The game had been scoreless through the opening three innings before CVA scored three times in the top of the fourth inning. Bortscheller and Javier Rios scored the final two runs of the frame to put CVA up 3-0.
Great 8s
Sweetwater Valley scored three runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to break open a close game. Eastlake scored once in the third to trim Sweetwater Valley’s lead to 2-1. However, Sweetwater Valley countered with three runs in the next inning to extend its lead to 5-2.
Jaime Del Rio scored three runs for Sweetwater Valley while Dominic Guerra scored twice in the game. Peyton Bravence, Levi Ruperto, Jayden Blondin and Johnny Lopez each scored one run.
Eddie Acosta and Joey Ziomek both scored runs for Eastlake.
Hanging 10s
Most of the scoring in the Minor Division championship took place in the first inning as Park View pushed across five runs and Sweetwater Valley countered with three runs.
Emilio Diaz, Nico Alcala, Mikey Martin, Aidan Page and Danyaal Javier all scored runs for Park View while Joe Waters, Lucas Nguyen and Esteban Paez all crossed the plate for Sweetwater Valley.
Both teams scored a run in the third inning to make the score 6-4 in Park View’s favor. Noah Medina scored the sixth run for Park View while Lucas Yriqui scored the fourth run for Sweetwater Valley.
Sweetwater Valley made it a one-run game when Nico Villa scored in the fourth inning.
Sweetwater Valley advanced a runner to third base in the sixth inning but could not tie the game.
Park View manager Julio Alcala said the championship game victory was a breakthrough moment for his group.
“It feels good for the kids to finally get the win,” said Alcala, whose son Nico plays first base. “It’s a good group. We’ve preached defense, defense, defense all season and that’s what we needed to win the game. I knew we would score some runs. The kids believed in it and it came down to the last play.”
Martin had two doubles in the game for Park View, the first of which scored two runs. Diaz received credit for the win while Adrian Hamawandi received credit for the save.
Teen Titans
Of special note, members of the 2019 Eastlake High School baseball team volunteered their time as guest umpires for the 6U and 7U semifinal and championship games.
Walker Lannom (home plate), Ricky Tibbett (first base), Jake Cekander (second base) and Josh Smith (third base) all got to experience a different side of the game while out of the batter’s box.
“It was fun,” Lannom confessed. “It was an amazing time to see where we all came from. It was fun to give back to the community and see all the leagues we used to play against.”
The young players got a chance to see future role models.
Tibbett (Eastlake Little League) and Lannom (Sweetwater Valley Little League) both had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete in the Little League World Series.
Tibbett picked up the win in the top-seeded Titans’ 5-3 win over Poway in the San Diego Section Open Division championship game played May 25 at SDSU’s Toby Gwynn Stadium. He will join three Eastlake alumni on SDSU’s roster next season.
“They are role models for the younger players,” Lucero noted. “We’re so happy about the tournament. It’s all been so amazing. Imperial Beach Little League did a fantastic job with the playing fields and setting up everything. Everybody received high marks.”
Semifinal scoreboard
6U Division
Chula Vista American 12, Sweetwater Valley 2
Eastlake 16, Park View 14
7U Division
Chula Vista American 7, Park View 2
Sweetwater Valley 14, Eastlake 8
8U Division
Sweetwater Valley 9, Park View 7
Eastlake 13, Imperial Beach 1
Minor Division
Park View 10, Eastlake 0
Sweetwater Valley 6, South Bay 1
CALIFORNIA DISTRICT 42 TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME LINEUPS
6U Division
Chula Vista American: Anthony Burgos, Alejandro Rivera, Collin Hayes, Alex Espinoza-Smalls, Ramon Bonilla, Aaron Topf, Jacob Sanchez, Elijah Gracia, Josiah Gallegos, Cash Arguijo, Leonel Beltran, Austin Huizar, Sebastian Pino
Eastlake: Cash Mora, Jaxson Fraijo, Joshiah Ziomek, Zach Rubio, Makai Vasquez, Jack McGinn, Ramsai Silva, Declan Curtis, Lucas Del Villar, Carlos Ibarra, Fabian Perez, Joey Pierce, Max Creighton
7U Division
Chula Vista American: Sammy Feria, Sonny Garcia, Evan Bortscheller, Javier Rios, Israel Mejia, Luke Moreno, Dominic Bertolero, Lincoln Acosta, Lance Gomez, Roman Flores, Zeke Huerta, Titan Smith, Dominik Paredes
Sweetwater Valley: Clark Walrath, Parker Crawford, Max Martinez, Adam Bailey, Collin Link, Nickolas Paez, Moizes Miramontes, Emiliano Carrillo, Declan Shinn, Ayden Maldonado, Davyd Mendoza, Stryder Tran, Cooper Hernandez
8U Division
Sweetwater Valley: Jaime Del Rio, Peyton Bravence, Dominic Guerra, Levi Ruperto, Wyatt Arnce, Dominic Rojas, Eric Martinez, Evertt Holmstrom, Eli Castro, Mark Johnson, Adrian Aguilar, Jayden Blondin, Johnny Lopez
Eastlake: Ryan Nicolaus, Eddie Acosta, Dante Baca, Isaac Enriquez, Kane DeJesus, Jaziel Gonzalez, Logan McElroy, Jalen Reeves, Isaiah Cortes, Joey Ziomek, D.J. Bracamonte, Logan Boliguen, Hunter Piring
Minor Division
Park View: Noah Medina, Emilio Diaz, Nico Alcala, Mikey Martin, Aidan Page, Danyaal Javier, Wesley Fuller, Nate Carrasco, Carlos Martinez, Adrian Hamawandi, Miles Gilfillen, Diego Zazueta, Grant Hill
Sweetwater Valley: Joe Waters, Lucas Nguyen, Esteban Paez, Erick Villeda, Niko Duncan, Nico Villa, Moyses Salido, Christian Camacho, Jude Lopez, Roman Murphy, Nico Vaca, Beckett Wilson, Lucas Yriqui
Photo Gallery by Robert Bonilla
7U Division Semifinals: Chula Vista American 7, Park View 2
6U Division Photo Gallery by Roberto Bonilla
June 19 pool round game: Chula Vista American 7, Sweetwater Valley 6
