Local All-Stars fall in semis, miss out on consolation title
GILROY — By Monday morning everything was back to normal for the 12 Junior All-Stars from Gilroy.
They had already missed three days of school and there wasn’t an excuse to miss a fourth.
Last week a note of absence was easy to pen. The message may have read, “My daughter will not be in class today, she is attempting to play for a world title.”
Most assuredly, though, in the back of each of their minds as they sat in class Monday were the memories they formed during a week’s worth of softball, sight-seeing and friendships at the 2010 Little League World Series in Kirkland, Wash.
“It was great watching the girls evolve over the three weeks we were together,” manager Rudy Perales said. “Watching them as a parent and a coach having fun was great to see. Every game they were relaxed and ready to go. It was fun watching that maturity.”
After a 3-1 record through the round-robin pool play, the group of 13- and 14-years-olds from South Valley, rallied to a spot in the semifinals last Friday, one win away from the championship game.
“We were confident going into the game. We thought we had a chance,” Perales said.
The girls encountered a buzzsaw in the Latin America team from Puerto Rico.
The game lived up to the hype; sound fundamentals in the field and unforgiving pitching.
“We played outstanding defense all the way through, we just couldn’t get anybody on base,” Perales said.
Gilroy’s ace Holly Lam gave up seven hits and the one measly, yet all-important run in the first inning. However, she along with the rest of the offense were stymied to the tune of 17 strikeouts. And an offense that had come up with clutch hits on a regular basis time after time during the postseason, was held to just one base hit by the tournament’s eventual champion in a 1-0 loss.
“We faced a dominant pitcher,” Perales said. “She had a real nice rise ball and we just couldn’t lay off of it.”
By the time Saturday’s consolation final rolled around, the girls were mentally drained, Perales said. After such an energetic and emotional contest the night before, the girls ran out of steam and suffered a 13-5 loss, ending their stay in the Emerald State with a fourth-place showing out of eight of the best teams in the world.
Though some now head to different schools — seven of the players attend Gilroy High, four walk the halls of Christopher High and one dons the Presentation logo — they will forever be tied together as one team.
“I think they created a special bond with each other,” Perales said. “They may not become best friends but there’s a bond that they accomplished something that so few kids get to do. They will always have the memories of coming together and going through the state, regionals and World Series.”
Throughout the miles traveled, the group of parent, players and coaches rallied around the team, and that unifying experience also shone through as the wild ride came to an end.
“It’s not just the coach and the manager, the parents are a big part of it and their support,” Perales said. “It’s a community-coached team. The high school coaches even before we left came out to help with practice.”
This was the fourth Gilroy Little League softball team to advance to the Little League World Series and the first at the Junior level. It was also the farthest any Gilroy All-Star team moved through the tournament.
“Hopefully the rest of Gilroy knows we have the talent in Gilroy to do this again in future years,” Perales said.
