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Last year the Tri-Valley Babe Ruth 14-year-old all-star team lived the dream summer, winning the NorCal and then Pacific Southwest Regionals to advance to the Babe Ruth World Series.
Once there in North Dakota, the team came through, bringing home the 14-year-old Babe Ruth World Series title.
Fast forward to this year and it is the Tri-Valley 13-year-old all-star team that may be making another run to the World Series.
Last week the team captured the Northern California championship, going 3-0 in the tournament held in Woodland — the same spot the 14-year-old team started their run last summer.
The team opened the tournament with a 5-0 win over Oakland, then followed with an 8-1 win over the team from Belmateo (think Belmont and San Mateo). That sent them to the title game where they beat Oakland 11-0 on a nifty no-hitter from Gavin McMillan.
Last year’s coach of the 14s — Andrew Crabill — had basically been with the World Series champs for over a year and knew what he had coming into the postseason.
That wasn’t the case this season as he coaches the 13s.
“Basically, I had one week with the team before the NorCal tournament,” Crabill said. “Most of the kids were new to me.”
When looking at the scores, one thing quickly became evident, as is usually the case when you average eight runs per game.
“I didn’t know much coming in, but once we got to playing baseball, we could hit,” Crabill said.
Leading the way at the plate has been Kingston Smith, Takumi Yumoto and Ayden Goins.
Smith went 6-for-9 in the tournament, driving in four runs and scoring four times. Yumoto was the leadoff hitter and table setter for Tri-Valley, going 4-for-9. Finally, Goins was 3-for-8 from his No. 3 spot, getting a double and a triple.
When Tri-Valley was in the field, it was all about McMillan. The 6-foot-6 freshman to be at Monte Vista was too much for the opposition in all three games.
Due to the lopsided scores, Tri-Valley was able to use McMillan on the mound in all three games — and his final numbers were amazing: 14 innings pitched, three hits allowed, zero earned runs allowed and 23 strikeouts.
“He is an ace of an ace,” Crabill said.
Next up is a trip to Taft for the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament in the week ahead (July 23-29) at Monty Reedy Field.
The competition definitely steps up here with a World Series berth at stake. It has been a benefit for the Tri-Valley squad to have a break after the NorCal tourney.
“From a team perspective, I am happy to have the two weeks off,” Crabill said. “Spending more together is beneficial to these kids. We need to be better in the regionals.”
With so much that lays ahead unknown, Crabill is taking an optimistic outlook.
“I know the level of ballplayer that comes out the Tri-Valley program is pretty high,” Crabill said. “I feel confident, and I want the kids to feel like they are one of the teams to beat.”
Tri-Valley opens play on Monday (July 24), taking on Simi Valley in a 10 a.m. contest. Also entered in the regionals are: Central California No. 1 (Madera), Taft (host), Hawaii, Arizona, Central California No. 2 (Orcutt), Southern California (Torrance), Utah and Nevada (South Reno).
The championship game or games in the double elimination tournament format is set for next Saturday (July 29).
Tri-Valley team members: Goins, McMillan, Smith, Yumoto, Brady Wilhite, Braydon Hein, Garrett Bechetti, Gavin Schmitt, Jake Marchand, Jayden Merfeld, Johnny Willis, Landon Maloney, Logan Cato, Owen Wat and Tyler Tabaracci.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
Editor’s note: Dennis Miller is a contributing sports writer for the Pleasanton Weekly. To contact him about his Pleasanton Preps column, email acesmag@aol.com.
I am very proud of our all-star Tri-Valley Babe Ruth team! They performed well and deserved their chance to play in the World Series. I hope they continue their winning streak and bring home another championship title. They are real talents and characters. Coach Crabill did a great job getting them ready for the tournaments. I will root for them with all my heart!