When you get to NorCals in Little League, you’ve gone pretty far. You’ve kicked up a ton of dirt, taken a lot of hacks at the plate and made countless throws around the diamond.
Most kids never get this far, but a few youngsters from Los Banos and a couple from Dos Palos have attained this level of success in back-to-back years.
“Last year we won district and won sections and went to NorCal State, but we didn’t win a game,” said Joe Dias, who manages the Los Banos Little League (LBLL) 50/70 team along with coaches Drew Guintini and Mike Landrum. “But this year we won a game.”
This year, LBLL went as far as the NorCal 50/70 Tournament in Marysville. The 50/70 designation is a fancy way of saying Under 13s, and this bunch rose all the way to No. 5 in NorCal and Top 10 in all of the Golden State.
Nico Caropreso, Elijah Corona, Carson Corral, Jackson Dias, Mateo Fuentes, Trey Ganner, Sawyer Guintini, Caleb Hoskins, Noah Landrum, Santiago Noa, Kingston Potts, Junior Wilson and Stratten Wooten represented LBLL with grit and tenacity.
But their run came to an unfortunate end in the most dramatic fashion, a walk-off single in the bottom of the 7th inning in a 3-2 heartbreaker against Sutter Butte Little League—which was hosting the tournament—on July 13.
Starting pitcher Caropreso was dominating on the mound, racking up 8 strikeouts in 5 innings.
Sutter Butte opened with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but Los Banos was quick to equalize in the top of the third when Noa singled to the gap in left, stole second and then waltzed home on Potts’ double to right.
The same scenario played out again as the hosts took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth, but Los Banos said not so fast with a run in the top of the fifth.
This time Wilson reached base on a walk and also stole second. Noah hit a grounder to shortstop, got on his horse and beat the throw to first to put runners on the corners.
Then Wilson scored on a passed ball to tie the score at 2-2 heading to the final innings.
Los Banos was causing trouble on the basepaths, swiping 7 bags with 3 coming from Potts’ fleet feet to push the hosts to the brink, but Sutter Butte was able to limit the damage and leave Los Banos without the ability to respond with the fateful walk-off in the last inning.
Caropreso allowed only 2 runs (1 earned), and Landrum and Guintini also added hits for Los Banos, who entered having beaten Arvin 5-2.
Corral threw three scoreless innings before Ganner finished Sunday’s triumph in relief. Ganner added the big offensive highlight, plating 2 runs on a line drive triple to right.
Also driving in runs with hits were Caropreso, Dias, Noa, Corral, Fuentes, Guintini, Landrum, Wilson and Wooten.
The tournament had opened with an 18-0 defeat at the hands of Granada-Livermore, but there always will be that first win at NorCal.
“Honestly, the game against Arvin was cool,” Manager Dias said. “I think we should’ve made it to the championship game against Livermore.
“Sad it’s over with.”
At the preceding Section 6 championships in Twain Harte, Los Banos reeled off victories against Hoover Tyler 11-7, Tracy 15-0 and Hoover Tyler 13-2 for the title.
Corral struck out eight over 3.1 innings and got 2 hits at the plate. Guintini led the offense with 2 hits and 3 RBIs, with Hoskins and Wilson each adding a pair of hits. Noa and Guintini helped fuel a 9-stolen-base performance in the opener.
In the second game, Wooten struck out eight over 3.2 scoreless, and Landrum finished the shutout. Wooten also added 2 hits and 2 RBIs, as did Corral and Dias. Hoskins, Noa and Potts each had two hits. Fuentes and Ganner each drove in two runs. The team committed no errors.
Los Banos completed its championship run with Corral striking out 9 over 5 innings and collecting 2 hits at the plate.
Potts and Wilson both added 2 hits and 2 RBIs, with Potts also racing around the bases for 3 of Los Banos’ 8 steals. Rounding things out were Wooten with 2 hits and Fuentes with 2 RBIs.
Last year, Los Banos reached NorCal with the 12-and-under Majors All-Stars.
“I was on that Majors team, but the manager was Matt Yuregas, me and Mike,” said Dias, who already has his sights set on next year. “We plan on bringing this team back next year for Juniors.”
