El Segundo 13U Babe Ruth All-Stars defeated Simi Valley Babe Ruth 7-0 to capture the Babe Ruth State Title and punched their ticket to the Pacific Southwest Regional in Price, UT beginning July 22nd where a trip to the Babe Ruth World Series will be at stake.
El Segundo finished the tournament 4-0 and outscored their opponents 40-6 during the tournament. El Segundo defeated teams from Westchester, Torrance, Frontier, and Simi Valley Babe Ruth Leagues. The team was lead by the outstanding pitching of Max Martinez (1-0), Dylan Immel (3-0), and James Baldino. Timely hitting and great defense helped lead the way for El Segundo. Outstanding hitters for El Segundo were Cruz Ochoa, Lucas Bonham, Max Martinez, Dylan Immel, and Adan Barbosa.
El Segundo won their opening game vs. Westchester in a complete team win a score of 13-1. El Segundo hitting was key as they racked up 10 hits including key hits by Zack Porat and James Baldino.
In game two, El Segundo had their hands full with local rival Torrance. In a pitcher’s duel, El Segundo entered the 6th inning trailing 2-0 and once they finished the 6th, El Segundo clawed their way back to a 2-2 tie. The defense was sound again keyed by a sliding catch by Ryan Pascarelli and a diving play by Kevin Blake. El Segundo once again scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 7th inning, but not to be outdone, Torrance tied the game in the bottom of the inning thus sending the game into extra innings.
In the top of the 8th inning, El Segundo used small-ball tactics to take the lead for good! After an Ochoa double to put himself and Holden Coulter on 2nd & 3rd with no outs, El Segundo executed two perfect squeeze bunts by Dominick Kopecky and Dylan Alcala (making the score 5-3), Dylan Immel closed out Torrance for the crucial win to stay in the winners’ bracket.
In the Semi-Final game, El Segundo matched up with Frontier Babe Ruth. El Segundo came out firing offensively by scoring 5 runs by the second inning. Pitching was again outstanding by Baldino, Immel, and Kopecky. Leading the way with multiple RBI’s were Evan Sherrill, Bonham, and Immel. El Segundo finished off Frontier by a score of 15-2.
El Segundo defeated Simi Valley in the Championship Game by a score of 7-0. Max Martinez threw 5 shutout innings and Dylan Immel Finished things out with two shutout innings of his own. Offensively, El Segundo was paced by a 3-run homerun by Nik Kvitek.
El Segundo will now travel to Price, UT to continue their quest for a berth in the Babe Ruth World Series in Westfield, MA.
