It’s not cheap to attend the Little League World Series. Just ask parents from Park View Little League who made the trip to Pennsylvania back in 2009 or the parents from Eastlake Little League who did the same in 2013.
Families representing Sweetwater Valley Little League are the latest to discover that money does indeed make the world go around.
So, if your kid makes the Little League World Series, are you going to stay home, watch it on TV and miss a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience for the whole family? Hell, no!
Sweetwater Valley Little League administrators haven’t set a specific fund-raising goal to cover expenses for the families of the 13 boys on the team. A rough estimate, based on the Park View and Eastlake trips, is in the vicinity of $100,000.
“Our goal in fund-raising is to cover as many of the expenses as we can for the families of our all-star players,” league fundraising chairman Alan Botterman explained. “We don’t have an exact dollar goal, but I can tell you that it’s very expensive for appoximately 52 people to travel on one day’s notice to the East Coast. The hotel rooms, and general living expenses are also very high.”
Botterman said channels of donation include individuals, companies large and small, team wear vendors and watch parties. Some of the major donors include Bob Sutherland (McDonalds), Lake Elsinore Storm, Verdugo Testing, Eastlake Church, Patti McKelvey and many others, Botterman said.
The league has been active, especially over the last month, as the team drew nearer to qualifying for Little League’s biggest show on the planet. The league has held official viewing parties where participating restaurants have donated up to 20 percent of the proceeds back to the league.
Sales of Sweetwater Valley clothing items have been brisk, especially the very attractive blue West T-shirts and caps.
The “lucky monkey” shirts have been particularly popular, according to SVLL Board of Directors Vice-President Nick Provencio.
Provencio was among the SVLL staff handling apparel sales at La Finca de Adobe restaurant, one of the sites for the league’s official viewing parties. He said second orders have already been placed on some items, and doubled from the first order.
Apparel sales at Pizzo’s Pizzeria, another official viewing party site, have also been brisk. In fact, fans showed up at La Finca on a recent Thursday after being informed that items had sold out at Pizzo’s.
The Little League World Series brand obviously commands attention.
Losha Nakenalua, wife of SVLL league president Mahoe Nakenalua and who also serves as the league’s T-ball director, said ground is being made up in the fund-raising department.
“We’ve got a way to go but we’re going to get there,” she said. “We’ve had amazing community support.”
Nakenalua said fund-raising efforts will continue even after the team’s stay in the Little League World Series comes to and end. Sweetwater Valley carried a 1-1 record into Monday’s elimination game against Cranston Western Little League from Rhode Island.
Following the team’s 10-3 come-from-behind win on Monday, it will play another elimination game on Tuesday and will have to win a third elimination game on Thursday to earn a berth in Saturday’s United States division championship game.
Certainly, the ride has been fun for everyone who has been associated with the league’s fund-raising efforts. It’s all for a good cause and, for many, will likely be a once-in-a-lifetime Little League World Series experience for them as well, albeit from a distance.
“The farther the team has gotten, the larger the viewing parties have gotten,” Provencio explained. “We had a large turnout at Pizzo’s – as much as they could handle.”
Sweetwater Valley’s board of directors and administrators number less than 20 – all of them volunteers.
This is Provencio’s fourth year on the board of directors. He started as T-ball director and has since become involved in other areas of the league’s administrative structure. He said there is a common goal on the league’s board.
“We all want to change things for the better (for the kids),” he said.
Provencio and other board members said they haven’t necessarily been taken by surprise by the success of this year’s team. Sweetwater Valley won its first 17 games in all-star tournament play before finally tasting defeat Sunday to the team from Pearland West Little League, the Texas East state champion.
“We knew from when they were the 11U team last year that they were a strong team they might go far,” Provencio said. “This (the Little League World Series) is icing on the cake.”
The team’s magical journey to Williamsports has easily touched hundreds, if not thousands, of people in the South Bay — and beyond.
“The team has gotten fans from every team they have beaten along the way,” Provencio explained. “Those people have continued to follow the team.”
A good chunk of two sell-out crowds that took in Sweetwater Valley games at the Little League World Series West Region championship tournament games in San Bernardino were comprised of fans from throughout Southern California, not just the large caravan of fans driving norh from Bonita and Chula Vista.
Dave McDonald, whose son Steven played on Sweetwater Valley’s Tournament of Champions team earlier this summer, has been a manager and coach in the league since T-Ball. He said he’s personally felt that something special has been brewing in the league for some time.
“We knew something special was brewing in the league for a long time, we just couldn’t put a finger on it,” he said. “The positive efforts directed toward the league and the kids are showing.”
Sunday special
After clubbing Kentucky, 14-2, in last Friday’s Little League World Series tournament opener in South Williamsport, Pa., interest in the Bonita team had reached a frenzy with its unblemished 17-0 record and 1-0 start in LLWS play.
Not surprisingly, the Sweetwater Valley Little League team began to receive love from all over via social media.
“Keep swinging those bats,” former Sweetwater Valley Little Leaguer and current Major League Baseball star Adrian Gonzalez tweeted.
The San Diego Padres also tweeted a good luck message to the team prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals Sunday afternoon at Petco Park.
The San Diego Chargers sent a video message to the team that was played on the ABC-TV broadcast of Sunday’s winners bracket game against Texas East champion Pearland West Little League. Head coach Mike McCoy, quarterback Philip Rivers and tight end Antonio Gates all sent personal shout-outs to the team.
Rivers, who played Little League Baseball as a child, said he could recall the excitement the Sweetwater Valley team is currently experiencing at the LLWS.
Between 500-800 fans gathered at the Sweetwater Valley Little League complex to watch Sunday’s game on a giant 10-foot by 20-foot video board with professional sound. Vendors hawked street tacos and other delicacies while the snack bar also did brisk business. Sales of West T-shirts and other apparel items added to the league’s fundraising efforts.
A special check donation by Sycuan for $20,000 took place. County Supervisor Greg Cox and Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas were among the local dignitaries in attendance.
Many fans were seated in the outfield area, but other groups were sitting inside and in front of each dugout area, plus the fan seating area for the Major Division field.
Cox thanked the supporters, volunteers and sponsors of the league as well as the community. He introduced Cody Martinez, chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, who then presented a mock-up check to SVLL board members for $20,000.
Salas spoke briefly as well.
Eddie Valenzuela of King Size LED donated the giant LED panels.
The only sour element of the day was the team’s 8-4 loss to Texas that dropped them from the winners bracket.
But the games continue as long as the heavy-hitting SVLL team remains in contention, and so will the viewing parties. Fans should check the league’s Facebook site to keep abreast of where official viewing parties are scheduled.
Monday’s SVLL viewing party at La Finca in Bonita was well attended — and festive. Dan Cannon of Dirt Cheap Demolition donated $250 for every home run hit during Monday’s game. Sweetwater Valley hit three, including a grand slam home run in the third inning by Jake Baptista. Cannon agreed to donate $1,500 — $1,000 for the grand slam and $250 to the others hit by Walker Lannom and Dante Schmid.
“I was thinking of how to cheer up the fans after Sunday’s loss,” Cannon said. “I wanted to motivate the fans to have an exciring time at La Finca’s. My son plays in the league. He’s 9. I hope my donation will help some of the families on the trip.”
The Sweetwater Sluggers get a rematch against Kentucky in Tuesday’s elimination game. brackt. The party will be back at La Finca. Game time is 5 p.m. PDT. The game will be telecast on ESPN2.
La Finca de Adobe restaurant is located at 5202 Bonita Road. Call 470-4069 for more information. Besides the camaraderie from fans, the food is also excellent there.
Batter up!
Jon Bigornia contributed to this story.
Sweetwater Valley hitters return to form, eliminate Rhode Island 10-3
Monday’s win guaranteed Sweetwater Valley a top four finish in the United States bracket at the 2015 Little League World Series. Considering there are approximately 7,000 teams in this age division in the United States, the Sweetwater Sluggers finally have appropriate a measuring stick by which to rate their juggernaut squad.
The team would like to leave its mark on this year’s Little League World Series odyssey with at least one more win to guarantee a top three finish.
If Monday’s victory – and return to form for the team – is any indicator, watch out!
The California District 42 champions survived a rocky start that saw Rhode Island take a 2-0 lead on a home run by Caleb Harris, a base hit by catcher David Marchetti, wild pitch, errant pick off at second base and ensuing base hit by Cam Adamec off the glove of the SVLL first baseman.
Sweetwater Valley, meanwhile, seemed handcuffed by outside breaking balls thrown by Cranston Western starter Dylan Demers for the first two innings. The Southern California champions managed one hit in the first inning – a single by Levi Mendez – but Demers struck out the next two hitters to end the inning.
Demers retired Sweetwater Valley in order in the second inning, striking out two more batters.
Mendez, who drew the start for the California Section 7 champions, settled down after the opening inning and was rarely threatened afterward while the reverse haopened to the New England Region champions.
“I think when we get out to a slow start that there’s always a tendency with the kids to think that it’s going to be ‘one of those type of games again’,” Sweetwater Valley Little League manager Ward Lannom explained. “But by the third inning, we made some adjustments, moved the guys up in the batters box so the breaking balls broke in rather than out. Their pitcher got erratic and our hitting took off from there.
“It seems like everyone we play now is playing above their means. We have to limit our errors and play better baseball. If we can do that and keep up our hitting, we have a good chance of coming out on top.”
Sweetwater Valley (18-1) scored its breakthrough inning against Rhode Island in the top of the third inning by sending 12 batters to the plate and scoring six runs to take a 6-2 lead.
Sweetwater Valley rapped out seven hits in the frame and also took benefit of a base on balls. Nick Maldonado opened the inning with a base hit but was forced out at second base by teammate Cameron Barbabosa.
Antonio Andrade followed with a walk to place runners at first and second bases and Mendez followed with another hit to load the bases. Nate Nankil drove in one run with a base hit. The bases remained loaded for Walker Lannom, perhaps the team’s most consistent hitter over the course of the last two tournaments. Walker, who entered Monday’s game with seven home runs and 15 RBI, singled to tie the score.
The bases remained loaded for the next batter, Jake Baptista, who quickly deposited Demers’ offering over the center field fence for a grand slam home run. Almost in the blink of an eye, Sweetwater Valley led 6-2.
“That gave everyone a boost,” the SVLL manager said. “When Jake hit the grand slam, it loosened up the players a lot.”
The West Region champions had a golden opportunity to pad their lead. Braiz Ramirez struck out for the second out in the inning but Mark Cervantes doubled, Maldonado drew a walk and Barbabosa recorded an infield to load the bases once more.
Andrade delivered a smash to right-center but the Rhode Island outfielder made a diving catch to prevent the ball from dropping and rolling to the wall to possibly clear the base paths.
Marchetti homered for the New England Region champions in the bottom of the third inning to trim the Sweetwater Valley lead to 6-3, and the game turned back to a pitcher’s duel between Mendez and Demers.
Marchetti’s blast was easily the most impressive home run of the night. He got solid wood on the pitch and everyone in the stadium knew in an instant that it was headed out of the yard.
The fourth inning proved scoreless for both teams. Demers reached the 85-pitch count with two outs in the top of the fifth inning and had to leave the game. His replacement, Nick Mason, allowed an infield hit to Ari Armas but struck out Andrade to end the inning.
Demers left the game with seven strikeouts.
Mendez appeared to be gaining power as the game progressed. He struck out two batters in the bottom of the fourth inning and retired the other hitter on a comebacker. He struck out the side in the fifth inning.
Sweetwater Valley recorded some valuable insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning – four, to be exact, to take the pressure off Mendez. Nankil doubled and Lannom homered to up the Sweetwater Valley lead to 8-3. Dante Schmid cracked a two-out home run to make the score 9-3. It was Schmid’s third home run in Little League World Series play.
Rhode Island changed pitchers. Cervantes greeted New England’s Jared Olson with a double and Maldonado brought him home with a basehit.
Ahead 10-3, the Sweetwater Sluggers needed only three more outs to extend their LLWS stay at least one more game.
The bottom of the sixth inning opened on somewhat of an ominous note with an infield error and hit batter. But Mendez may have pitched his best to get the final three outs of the game – all on strikeouts.
Despite yielding the two long balls, Mendez finished an otherwise outstanding performance by allowing just four hits and striking out 11 Rhode Island hitters.
Perhaps more importantly, Sweetwater Valley’s hitters returned to more accustomed form at the plate by finishing the game with 14 hits. Mendez paced the team with three hits in the win over Cranston Western while Lannom collected three RBI to go with Baptista’s game-high four RBI.
All Sweetwater Valley fans watching the game around the world had to be feeling especially proud of the team at this moment.
Sweetwater Valley manager Ward Lannom said the loss on Sunday may have helped the team set its sights straight.
“We get to see where the heart comes in (now),” he told the media after Sunday’s 8-4 loss to Texas East champion Pearland West Little League.
Will the Sweetwater Sluggers get a rematch with the pitching-strong Texans? That remains uncertain at this point and is totally beside the point. Sweetwater Valley gets a rematch on Tuesday against a Bowling Green Eastern Little League team that the Southern California champions decimated, 14-2, in last Friday’s tournament opener.
The Kentucky state champions have since won two consecutive games, including Monday’s 4-3 elimination win over South Carolina, to match Sweetwater Valley’s 2-1 record in the tournament.
The U.S. division field is now down to four teams, and it will be down to three teams after Tuesday’s elimination contest. Sweetwater Valley is hoping to be counted among the survivors.
Sweetwater Valley has now hit 10 home runs in three Little League World Series games and 82 for the summer.
The elder Lannom said there is an element of fun and seriousness that will come together for Tuesday’s game.
“The players now what’s at stake,” the SVLL manager said. “They know it could be their last Little League game of the season. They players know that. We just want to focus and stay light and do what we’ve been doing. Hopefully, after 18 outs, we’ll be on top.”
Field is set for 2015 Little League World Series
United States Championship Tournament
Great Lakes Region: Bowling Green Eastern Little League (Kentucky)
Mid-Atlantic Region: Red Land Little League (Pennsylvania)
Midwest Region: Webb City Little League (Missouri)
New England Region: Cranston Western Little League (Rhode Island)
Northwest Region: Wilshire-Riverside Little League (Oregon)
Southwest Region: Northwood Little League (South Carolina)
Southwest Region: Pearland West Little League (Texas East)
West Region: Sweetwater Valley Little League (Southern California)
International Championship Tournament
Asia-Pacific Region: Tung Yuan Little League (Chinese Taipei)
Australia Region: Cronulla Little League (Australia)
Canada Region: White Rock South Surrey (British Colombia)
Caribbean Region: Los Bravos de Pontezuela Little League (Dominican Republic)
Europe-Africa Region: AVRS Secondary School Little League (Uganda)
Japan Region: Tokyo Kitasuna Little League (Japan)
Latin America Region: Cardenales Little League (Venezuela)
Mexico Region: Seguro Social Little League (Mexicali)
Little League World Series Schedule
All times Eastern (3 hours earlier for Pacific time)
Friday, Aug. 21
Opening Round Games
International Bracket
Europe-Africa 4, Caribbean 1
Latin America 5, Australia, 2
Mexico 1, Canada 0
Japan 7, Asia-Pacific 5
United States Bracket
Southwest 1, Northwest 0
West 14, Great Lakes 2 (4 innings)
Southeast 7, New England 1
Mid-Atlantic 18, Midwest 0
Saturday, Aug. 22
Elimination Games
International Bracket
Australia 3, Caribbean 0 (Caribbean eliminanted)
Asia-Pacific 18, Canada 4 (Canada eliminated)
United States Bracket
Great Lakes 7, Northwest 5 (Northwest eliminated)
New England 8, Midwest 3 (Midwest eliminated)
Sunday, Aug. 23
Double Elimination Games
International Bracket
Latin America 7, Europe-Africa 0
Japan 3, Mexico 1
United States Bracket
Southwest 8, West 4
Mid-Atlantic 9, Southeast 8
Monday, Aug. 24
Elimination Games
Consolation game, Caribbean 7, Northwest 3
International division elimination game, Mexico 14, Australia 3
U.S. division elimination game, Great Lakes 4, Southeast 3
International division elimination game, Asia-Pacific 5, Europe-Africa 0
U.S. division elimination game, West 10, New England, 3
Tuesday, Aug. 25
Elimination Games
Consolation game, Midwest 18, Canada 6
International division elimination game, Mexico 11, Asia-Pacific 1
U.S. division elimination game, West 11, Great Lakes 3
Wednesday, Aug. 26
Double Elimination Games
International division game, Japan 5, Latin America 4
U.S. division game, Mid-Atlantic 3, Southwest 0
Thursday, Aug. 27
Elimination Games
Elimination Games
International division elimination game, Mexico 11, JLatin America 0
U.S. division elimination game, Southwest 9, West 7 (8 innings)
Saturday, Aug. 29
Division Championship Games
International division championship game, Mexico vs. Japan, 12:30 p.m. (ABC-TV)
U.S. division championship game, Texas vs. Pennsylvania, 3:30 p.m. (ABC-TV)
Sunday, Aug. 30
LLWS Placement Games
Third place game, 10 a.m. (ESPN)
Championship game, 3 p.m. (ABC-TV)
Source: http://www.llbws.org/gameinfo/schedule.htm
Sweetwater Valley Little League 12U All-Stars
Tournament Game Log
California District 42 champions
Sweetwater Valley 28, Chula Vista American 0
Sweetwater Valley 19, Park View 1
Sweetwater Valley 18, Imperial Beach 0
Sweetwater Valley 14, Park View 0
California Section 7 champions
Sweetwater Valley 10, Lemon Grove 0
Sweetwater Valley 20, Rancho San Diego 5
Sweetwater Valley 18, Rancho San Diego 7
Southern California
South Division III champions
Sweetwater Valley 12, Orangecrest 5
Sweetwater Valley 6, Encinitas 2
Sweetwater Valley 7, Oceanview 4 (7 innings)
Southern California
Division III champions
Sweetwater Valley 9, Manhattan 6
Sweetwater Valley 18, Manhattan 5
Sweetwater Valley wins best-of-three series 2-0
Little League World Series
West Region champions
Sweetwater Valley 16, Hawaii 9
Sweetwater Valley 11, Nevada 2
Sweetwater Valley 11, Utah 1
Sweetwater Valley 12, Hawaii 10 (championship game)
Note: Sweetwater Valley advances to Little League World Series as West Region representative
Little League International
Western Regional Tournament
West Region teams
Arizona state champion: Chandler National North Little League
Hawaii state champion: Waipahu Waipio Little League
Nevada state champion: Henderson Paseo Verde Little League
Northern California state champion: San Jose Cambrian Park Little League
Southern California state champion: Sweetwater Valley Little League
Utah State champion: Santa Clara Snow Canyon Little League
Game Schedule
Sunday, Aug. 9
Arizona 3, Northern California 0
Southern California 16,Hawaii 9
Monday, Aug. 10
Utah 11, Arizona 1 (5 innings)
Southern California 11, Nevada 2
Tuesday, Aug. 11
West Region elimination game: Nevada 9, Northern California 3
West Region elimination game: Hawaii 12, Arizona 9 (7 innings)
Wednesday, Aug. 12
West Region elimination game: Hawaii, 14, Nevada 3
Thursday, Aug. 13
West region winners bracket final (semifinal), Southern California 11, Utah 1
Friday, Aug. 14
West Region elimination game (semifinal): Hawaii 15, Utah 0
Saturday, Aug. 15
West Region championship game: Southern California 12, Hawaii 10
Note: Southern California advances to Little League World Series
Sweetwater Valley 12U All-Stars
Team Roster
Players: Antonio Andrade, Isaac Artalejo, Ariel Armas, Jacob Baptista, Cameron Barbabosa, Mark Cervantes, Preston Fleming, Walker Lannom, Nicholas Maldonado, Levi Mendez, Nate Nankil, Braiz Ramirez, Dante Schmid
Manager: Ward Lannom
Coaches: Arturo Maldonado, Jaime Ramirez
Player Profiles
Isaac Artalejo
Bonita Vista Middle School
Age 13
Nickname: “Cachorro”
Antonio Andrade
Bonita Vista Middle School
Age 13
Nickname: “Double-A”
Nate Nankil
Bonita Vista Middle School
Age 12
Nickname: “Nankil the ball”
Cameron Barbabosa
Bonita Vista Middle School
Age 12
Nickname: “Shrimp”
Walker Lannom
Eastlake Middle School
Age 12
Nickname: “The Talker”
Dante Schmid
Eastlake Middle School
Age 13
Nickname: “Big D”
Levi Mendez
Eastlake Middle School
Age 12
Nickname: “Chip”
Nick Maldonado
Eastlake Middle School
Age 12
Nickname: “Penguin”
Preston Fleming
Eastlake Middle School
Age 12
Nickname: “P-Diddy”
Mark Cervantes
Calvary Christian Academy
Age 13
Nickname: “Mark, Mark, Mark”
Ari Armas
Sacred Heart Academy
Age 12
Nickname: “Bugatti”
Braiz Ramirez
Coronado Middle School
Age 12
Nickname:”Tree”
Jake Baptista
Home school
Age 12
Nickname “Eyebrows”
