East Barstow bows to Hesperia

BARSTOW • East Barstow came up one win short of playing for a championship.

The loser’s bracket final of the 11-12’s Distrct 49 Little League All-Star Tournament was played Monday night. East Barstow and Hesperia National had one loss apiece, and only one could advance to the title game against Hesperia American.

As it turned out, it will be an all-Hesperia battle on Tuesday, as East Barstow fell on Monday by a 12-5 score at Fogelsong Park.

The East did better than the previous night, when it got only two hits and was shut out by Hesperia American. But National has some big bats with six different players collecting hits, while the defense went error-free.

“I’m proud of the kids, they gave it all they had,” said Barstow manager Andrew Ramirez. “They stayed in it until the end and gave it their best shot.”

National jumped on top in the first inning and stayed there. An error and single led to two runs in the first, and another in the second. Barstow was competitive early, making it a 3-2 match with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Evan Lobato reached on a fielder’s choice, moved up on a Jeremy Essex single and scored on a Ronny Bourgeois bases-loaded walk. Gredan Velasquez also worked out a walk with the bags juiced.

That briefly made it a one-run game, but National again gave itself some breathing room with three more in the third. Donovan Griffin hit a solo home run to get it started.

The East tacked on single runs in the third, fourth and fifth. Essex hit an RBI single in the third, Ben Flores did so in the fourth, and Tono Ortiz in the fifth.

Barstow pitcher Jon Ramirez tossed a 1-2-3 fourth with some help from his defense. After a ground out, Chew Iwig singled up the middle, but the next batter sent a little flare to Ortiz. The second baseman leaped to his left to make the catch, then threw to first baseman Lobato, who tagged Iwig for the 4-4-3 double play. Ramirez also faced just three batters in the fifth. Right fielder Essex registered the first out by tracking down a long fly, followed by a ground out and Ramirez’ seventh strikeout.

Hesperia had its best offensive inning in the sixth, when it added on six more runs. There were two homers in the frame, by Isaiah Navarro and Yao Cisneros.

The East picked up six hits, with a fifth-inning double by Essex the only one for extra bases. Essex was a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored.

The loss ended the East’s season, but the team’s coaches were proud of all the players had accomplished.

“They’re still in the learning phase, but they have a bright future. There’s lots more to come and every level will bring something different,” said coach Mo Morris. “I hope to see them again next year.”