They are Chula Vista’s reigning youth baseball royalty and city leaders had a chance to formally acknowledge their achievements at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Members of Chula Vista South’s PONY-13 International World Series championship team posed for photos with Chula Vista Mayor Mary Salas and City Councilman John McCann and also received personal certificates of recognition during a public meet-and-greet.
“It was cool that the kids were recognized for playing so hard,” Chula Vista South manager Valentin Luna explained. “It’s not on TV, not many people know about it.”
Chula Vista South completed an undefeated 20-0 run to claim the 2015 PONY-13 World Series championship after defeating the Dominican Republic, 4-1, Aug. 3 in Whittier.
Chula Vista South previously won the PONY World Series in 1967, so the 48-year span between championship titles has been especially noteworthy, according to league president Omar Castro.
“I feel it’s great (because) PONY Baseball doesn’t really get much recognition,” he said. “I think it’s great to bring the championship to Chula Vista.”
Castro said registration for the new season starts in November. Numbers should be up after the World Series championship.
“We’re hoping,” the CVS league president said.
The PONY-13 World Series title could just be a starting point for the current group of 13-year-olds.
“These guys have a genuine love for the game, they’ll keep playing baseball,” Luna said. “They’ll be playing for many years to come.”
Players seemed to get a kick out of attending the council meeting at City Hall and receiving official recognition by city officials. They all remain steadfastly proud of the championship season they turned in.
“It was fun, definitely a good experience I’ll remember forever,” noted Eric Nakano, who finished the team’s all-star tournament odyssey with a .370 hitting average and 22 RBI.
“It was a great experience with this team, I’m going to miss this team,” Bubba Villegas added.
“We all played hard, we wanted it really bad,” interjected Emilio Luna, who registered a .456 hitting average to go with 17 RBI in 20 games. “We’ve been wanting for this day to come for a long time, and we worked hard at it.”
“It was a moment you never forget,” explained Antonio Garcia, the winning pitcher in the championship game who struck out seven Dominican Republic batters. “The last out … it was the best moment, there will never be a moment like that in my life.”
CHULA VISTA SOUTH
PONY-13 ALL-STARS
Undefeated 20-0 Season
San Diego Section champions
Chula Vista South 11, Chula Vista North 1
Chula Vista South 16, Ramona 4
Chula Vista South 15, Emerald Black 4
Chula Vista South 14, Emerald Black 9
Southwest Region champions
Chula Vista South 14, Kimball Park/National City 4
Chula Vista South 10, Emerald 9
Chula Vista South 6, Emerald 2
Super Region champions
Chula Vista South 17, Colton 2
Chula Vista South 4, Long Beach 2
Chula Vista South 6, South County/Mission Viejo 2
Chula Vista South 10, Covina 7
Chula Vista South 2, Kimball Park/National City 0
West Zone champions
Chula Vista South 6, Southeast Valley (Utah) 0
Chula Vista South 13, Pacifica 3
Chula Vista South 9, National City 0
Chula Vista South 6, Hilo (Hawaii) 1
PONY-13 International
World Series champions
Chula Vista South 5, Chesterfield (Virginia) 2
Chula Vista South 7, Whittier 1
Chula Vista South 7, Chesterfield (Virginia) 6
Chula Vista South 4, Dominican Republic 1
Chula Vista PONY-13 All-Stars
Team Roster
•Fisher Pyatt
•Keoni Cavaco
•Emilio Luna
•Christian Vazquez
•Bubba Villegas
•Eric Nakano
•Diego Martinez
•Bradley Mookini
•Antonio Garcia
•Arnold Escando
•Jake Rose
Manager: Valentin Luna
Coaches: Brad Nakano, Ivan Proia
Chula Vista PONY-13 All-Stars
Team Statistics
Hitting average: Fisher Pyatt .581, Keoni Cavaco .538, Emilio Luna .456, Christian Vazquez .443, Bubba Villegas .385, Eric Nakano .370, Diego Martinez .340, Bradley Mookini .296, Antonio Garcia .273, Arnold Escando .240, Jake Rose .208
RBI: Cavaco 29, Vazquez 24, Nakano 22, Luna 17, Garcia 15, Pyatt 14, Mookini 12, Villegas 11, Martinez 9, Rose 5, Escando 2
Home runs: Pyatt 4, Cavaco 3, Vazquez 3, Nakano 3, Luna 2, Villegas 2, Garcia 2
Pitching: Garcia 7-0, Rose 4-0, Cavaco 3-0, Vazquez 2-0, Pyatt 2-0, Luna 1-0, Mookini 1-0
ERA: Luna 0.00, Vazquez 1.47, Garcia 1.58, Nakano 1.75, Rose 3.45
