The San Benito Babe Ruth 14-year-old all-star team swept through the District 1 tournament in Lodi over the past week, winning the championship and earning a spot in the state tournament starting July 8 in Hanford.
The all-stars, coached by Jared Penzo, Andrew Breen and John Ashford, battled through temperatures exceeding 100 degrees to beat Tracy 25-1, Lodi 13-1 and Lodi again 7-6 in the championship game on June 28.
Penzo, a San Benito High School Class of 2014 graduate and former Babe Ruth player himself, said he was proud that the team "took what it means to play San Benito baseball to heart and ran with it. They didn't care who played or who pitched — they just wanted to win. Everyone bought into the whole team-first perspective and played together."
Had there been a tournament MVP awarded, Penzo said it would have gone to Zack Buzzetta, whom he said "had a phenomenal tourney — just absolutely crushing the baseball."
Pitchers Moises Salazar and Kaleb Guttirez gave the team solid starts, the coach said, "and gave us a great opportunity to win ballgames."