McCall ready for blue and gold makeover

BARSTOW — Jim McCall will become even easier to spot today.

The former West Barstow Little League president can usually be found at any West Barstow game either announcing from the booth or sitting near the dugout. After today you can just look for the big clean shaven guy with blue and yellow hair and a WB cut into the back.

McCall made a deal with the West Barstow Junior Division All-Star team that he would shave his face if they won the Section 8 tournament. Tuesday evening they defeated the East Rialto All-Stars 10-6 to win Section 8 and advance to the California Division III tournament. West Barstow will play their first game of the Division III tournament at 4 p.m. on Saturday against the Carmel Mountain Ranch All-Stars at the Los Alamos Hills Sportspark in Murrieta. After the game the team asked McCall if he would extend the deal to include dyeing his hair to match West Barstow’s team colors. He of course said yes. The idea for the deal came about after West Barstow’s Ryan Lara made a similar deal to cut his hair if the team won the District 49 tournament.

“The kids wanted me to go with the team colors,” McCall said. “It started with the beard and kind of snowballed. I couldn’t say no. I just want to support the team. It’ll be fun sitting in the stands like that.”

West Barstow has won seven straight games going undefeated to reach the Divisional tournament. They took four games at the District 49 tournament before winning the Sectional tournament in three games. If they manage to take a game at the Divisional tournament they will be the most successful Little League team out of Barstow in more than 20 years. West Barstow’s 11-year-old team made it to the Divisional tournament in Norwalk last year, but fell in two straight games.

West Barstow coach Mike Luna said he was unsure who they would start on the mound on Saturday. The team has several players who pitch and play infield or outfield. Aaron Sanchez, Ryan Lara, Billy McCall, Thomas McCarty and Eddie Urtiaga have all thrown for the team and Gabriel Vallejos and Nick Luna have pitched in the past.

“It’s hard to say who’ll start on Saturday,” Luna said. “We have so many weapons to work with. We’ll play a lot of games in a short amount of time so pitch counts will matter a lot. We probably won’t know who we’ll start till game time.”

Luna said the older players have emerged as leaders as the team has advanced into the post season. Sanchez is one of those leaders. Sanchez played on the varsity baseball team at Barstow High School as a freshman this year. The switch from high school baseball to little league has taken him from the new guy to team veteran. Urtiaga, McCarty and Michael Curran also played high school baseball and have helped guide the team.

“I’ve talked to our older players and told them, you are the leaders, the other kids look up to you,” Luna said. “It’s not uncommon to see one of those guys stop during a drill and help correct something someone is doing wrong. They learn from each other. It’s leading by example.”