Big Cheers to the Orange 9/10 All-Stars ~ District 30 Champs
Winning District was our first goal and it wasn't easy. Well deserved for sure. All that practice paid off and they made it out on top. From there, you advance to Sectionals.
[ Sectionals : There are 41 Districts in Southern CA*, which breaks down into 10 Sections. Once you win your District you advance to play for your Section. 41 teams battle for 10 spots. ]
We fall within Section 5- represented by Long Beach, Orange, La Mirada and Golden Hill. We had a new goal as you can imagine.
a look at Sectionals...
{ sweet boy ~ shared his cupcake }
They did awesome: still undefeated
Here they are following the Championship game ~
(with a new banner)
About 425 9/10 year old All-Stars started this tournament.
Now- there are 10 remaining.
It's not over yet. Yes. There's more.
From Sectionals you advance to Sub-Divisions.
[ Sub Divisions : The remaining 10 Sectional winners from So Cal will compete for the final two spots. 5 from the North and 5 from the South for a winner from each for the TWO Sub-Division III Champs. ]
We fall within the NORTH Sections 1-5 represented by: Goleta Valley South, El Segundo, Orange, Encino and Temple City American.
Here we go again...
a look at Sub-Division North
(That was game. It ended early)
(Opposed to this next one a few days later... game time was 5:30)
(there was LOTS of game in between - see that score)
It's also getting very late and DARK. We are at a field with no lights. So they made the decision at the end of 6 innings to CHANGE FIELDS.
Off we all went. Packing up our gear, EZ-ups and dirty little children. Heading 3 miles down the road to a new ballpark.
They are in a hurry to prep the fields and warm up the lights. Dads, coaches and even the umpires help out to get the game back on-
It's the middle of the 8th ~ now we are up 13-11.
But we are visitors and need to hold them.
They have runners on 1st and 2nd.
2 outs with a 2-2 count...
(2 fields, 8 innings, 9:20pm - WOW)
Just like that, we were heading to the Championship Game. Things were looking good. That is, until the game ended and we came up short.
p.s. We were Guests -
Those are some sad, exhausted boys.
This was our first loss. We had one more chance since it was double elimination. Prepared to face the same team... and they wanted us to go down ~
(yikes)
Two days later.
The final Championship game in this round. Prior to the game, the tournament director gave a great speech to both teams...
He mentioned how they were both undefeated coming into this - each teams only loss had come at the hands of the other. They were commended for being such great kids with exemplary sportsmanship. It was pretty awesome.
We were in for a battle, that's for sure. And- we were visitors AGAIN.
Here it was, the top of the 6th and final inning.
We are down 4-5...
with 2 runners on, 2 outs and a 2-2 count (Shane at bat)
Next pitch - crushed over the right field fence!
It was like a movie.
We were up 7-5, but they had their last at bats.
They got runners on and they scored, it's 7-6. But that was it.
Finally... the third out.
Introducing: the 9/10 Sub Division II NORTH Champions
Now- there are just two teams remaining in all of Southern California:
Orange (North)
Rancho San Diego (South)
They will play first to 2 in a 3 games series out in San Bernardino. When they gave us our new banner they also delivered an incredible offer. The players and coaches were invited to stay at the Western Regional facilities during their State Championship tournament play.
An exciting weekend awaits.
More baseball to play and thousands of photos to take... details to follow
*California is HUGE when it comes to baseball. Consider the # of Districts per State: CA=71, AZ=14, UT=1, MT=2, NV=4.
Back in 1958 they divided CA into Northern (30 Districts) and Southern (41 Districts). Even though it is divided- So Cal (at 41) still has the most Districts from any State.
