The San Benito Babe Ruth 15-year-old all-star team certainly knew its opponent well, having played the team from Lodi five times between the district and state tournaments prior to Tuesday’s winner-take-all championship game. But after falling 4-2 in the first game that would have clinched the championship, the local squad left no doubt by drubbing Lodi 13-1 to claim the state championship in its age bracket.
The San Benito all-stars, led by Manager David Marquez and coaches Matt Christan and Anthony Hernandez, will now head to the regional tournament in Surprise, Arizona, where many of them played last summer after winning the 14-year-old state championship. Â
San Benito cruised through the early rounds of the state tourney in Santa Maria, dispatching Lompoc 10-1 and Tulare 11-6 before facing Lodi, which it had beaten two out of three times in the district tournament. San Benito won the first game 9-2 before suffering its lone defeat of the state tournament, setting up the do-or-die title game.
It wasn’t much of a contest, as San Benito won by 12 to send the team back to Arizona, where last year’s squad finished with a 2-2 record.
Tyler Triano, a junior-to-be at San Benito High School, was named most valuable player of the tournament, while incoming sophomores Mason Marquez and Eugene McBride — along with junior-to-be Nick Christian — earned all-tournament honors.
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