SALINAS VALLEY — Two South Monterey County Little League baseball teams were recently crowned District 9 champions, with Soledad Major All-Stars capturing the All-Star Championship and Greenfield Juniors winning the Tournament of Champions.
SOLEDAD
The Soledad Little League Major All-Stars had a 5-1 record to win the District 9 baseball championship. Soledad played three times against Hollister, winning two of three games, including the 5-3 clincher.
Soledad began the All-Star tournament with a 1-0 win against National at Manzanita, followed by a 6-5 thriller against Hollister at Atlantic.
“We played great defense throughout the tournament,” said Soledad Manager Ivan Rodriguez. “In the second round, we beat Hollister as David Salas then Dominic Valenzuela came in to close it out. Matthew Argueta pitched next against Atlantic and we had a big 4-0 lead to start the first inning. Zylen Ortiz came in to close the game and we won by a 8-0 score.”
Salas started at pitcher the next game against King City, and Ortiz came in to win the game by a 6-2 score on June 27.
As Soledad was undefeated, they had to wait for the winner of the King City and Hollister game in the losers bracket. Hollister overwhelmed King City by a 14-1 score to set up another game with Soledad and was in the position where they had to beat Soledad twice to have a chance at the title.
Needing to come up with a solid game to win the championship, Soledad’s Julias Ledesma gave his team a 3-1 lead with a three-run homer after Hollister had taken a 1-0 lead. Ortiz contributed offensively with a run batted in and Valenzuela was strong from the mound, pitching a complete game, as Soledad won by a 5-3 tally.
Assisting Rodriguez this season were Isaac Ortiz, Miguel Salas and Adolfo Razo. Members of the Soledad team were: Matthew Argueta, Liam Cortez-Lopez, Jacob Gasca-Zavala, Julius Ledesma, Zylen Ortiz, Gabriel Pacheco, Christopher Preciado, Cash Razo, David Salas, Ashton Telles, Izaihas Toscano and Dominic Valenzuela.
GREENFIELD
The Greenfield Juniors began the TOC tournament on May 30, falling by a 6-3 score to Ferrasci at Manzanita. In their first game in the losers bracket, Greenfield defeated National at home the following day 11-7 in Greenfield.
Soledad had won 10-6 against Continental in the first round and faced off with host Greenfield on June 1. Greenfield turned on the offense as they defeated Soledad, 24-7. King City began the tournament with a 11-10 win over Soledad and remained unbeaten with a 9-8 victory over Ferrasci on June 3 at Manzanita. With two wins, King City waited in the winners bracket to play the winner of the June 4 matchup between Ferrasci and Greenfield in the losers bracket.
On June 4, Greenfield downed Ferrasci, 4-2, and the win sent Greenfield to Manzanita on June 6 to play King City. Greenfield won by a 2-1 score to set up a battle for the championship on June 7 at Manzanita. Greenfield was prepared for the task as they beat King City by a 10-2 score.
Greenfield was led by Aiden Hernandez at first base; Leo Rojas was the main pitcher; Jesse Soto played second base; Kevin Uribe was at shortstop and left field; and Marquez Ortiz pitched and played shortstop and at first base.
“We had everything we needed to win a championship,” said Greenfield Manager Jaime Soto. “I have been coaching for 20 years and this was probably my last game. We had pitching, hitting and good defense.”
Soto was assisted this season by his son Jaime Soto Jr., Gerardo Zarco and Manuel Hernandez.”
