Comeback Kids Going To Williamsport !!
- Updated: August 15, 2021
(Torrance Little League all-stars, a.k.a. “The Comeback Kids”, form a dogpile Aug. 13, after punching their ticket to the Little League World Series. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
Congratulations to Southern California Champion Torrance Little League of Torrance!! Its all-stars, a.k.a. “The Comeback Kids”, earned an invite to the 2021 Little League World Series!!
This year marks the first time that a Southern California team will play in South Williamsport, PA., since 2017. That year, Santa Margarita National Little League of Rancho Santa Margarita represented the West Region. This year’s Torrance squad becomes the seventh SoCal team to play in the Little League World Series since 2009. Of the prior six teams, three then won the United States championship, and two of those three won the entire world series. The last SoCal team to win the world title was Huntington Beach’s Ocean View Little League in 2011. I wrote about that earlier this year in 2011 Ocean View Little League, SoCal’s Last World Champion.
Officials did not invite international teams to this summer’s annual tournament. Thus, Torrance can only capture a U.S. title. The last Southern California representative to do that was Chula Vista’s Eastlake Little League in 2013. Strangely enough, that same Eastlake contributed one of Torrance’s only four losses this year. Torrance later defeated Eastlake in SoCal’s championship. Now, Torrance has a chance to match Eastlake’s accomplishment, by winning a U.S. title.
Let’s Go SoCal !!
Also, Torrance has an opportunity to become the first West team to win a U.S. crown since 2018, when Hawaii’s champion did that. Starting in 2008, West teams won seven U.S. championships. This article mentioned that three of those seven represented Southern California. Hawaii also produced three, and Nevada provided the other one. Torrance can give SoCal its fourth during that span, retaking the lead from Hawaii. However, Hawaii still has a say in the matter. Its 2021 team is also on its way to Pennsylvania. Watching both West team’s compete should be fun.
(Hawaii’s all-stars celebrate Aug. 12, after clinching a spot in the 2021 Little League World Series. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
On Aug. 13, Albert E. Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino hosted the battle of California. Southern California vs. Northern California. And, SoCal eliminated NorCal. Petaluma National Little League of Petaluma represented NorCal. That name should sound familiar. It is the same Petaluma league that won the West in 2012. That year, Petaluma then played in the United States championship game. But, NorCal fell to a team from Tennessee in one of the most exciting and nerve-racking games in Little League World Series history. In that epic contest, NorCal trailed by 10 runs in the sixth inning. The score was 15-5 entering the bottom of the sixth.
With its back against a wall, Petaluma mounted a monster comeback. NorCal rallied for 10 runs to tie the score. The game entered extra innings. In the seventh inning, Tennessee responded by scoring nine more runs. So, Petaluma batted in the bottom of the seventh, trailing, 24-15. NorCal was not done, yet. Petaluma scored a run, but that was far from enough. Final score: 24-16.
A pitchers’ duel.
Unlike the offensive fireworks in that game, the battle of California proved to be quite the opposite. Petaluma played Torrance dead even in a tight pitchers’ duel for six straight innings. The score after regulation was still 0-0. Unbelievable! For SoCal, pitcher Gibson Turner was in a zone. He threw a one-hit shutout through five and two-thirds innings, before reaching the pitch-count maximum. During that span, Turner only allowed one walk. He racked up 15 strikeouts.
(SoCal’s Gibson Turner pitches against NorCal, Aug. 13. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
Turner was matched punch-for-punch by NorCal’s Giovanni Castaing. He lasted five and a third innings before hitting the pitch-count maximum. Castaing only gave up one hit, and issued two walks. He finished with nine strikeouts. Both pitchers got replaced by their bullpen. For Torrance, that meant Dominic Golia. He completed SoCal’s shutout while only allowing one Petaluma hit.
The Comeback Kids.
In the seventh inning, without having to face Castaing, The Comeback Kids went wild. With two outs and nobody on base, Torrance did what Torrance does with two outs and nobody on base. Torrance started a clutch two-out rally. The Comeback Kids had accomplished that before. CaliSports News described it in District 42 Hot In Three Divisions, District 56 Takes Two Others.
That article reported on the first game of the Southern California Division tournament. Mounting a two-out rally was exactly what Torrance had done against Eastlake. As I wrote, “In the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing by four runs, with two outs and nobody on base, Torrance’s boys mounted a last-ditch rally. Four straight hits from Xavier Navarro, Turner, Andrew Nuruki, and Levi Cornett, and then an Eastlake error, resulted in two Torrance runs to cut Eastlake’s lead to 6-4, and left the bases loaded with two outs.” The Chula Vista boys held on to win, 6-4. But, Torrance finished with the bases loaded. The tying run was on second base, and the winning run was standing on first. That was how close The Comeback Kids had come to completing the job.
Unfinished business.
Against NorCal, The Comeback Kids finished the assignment. They scored six fat runs, after starting with two outs and nobody on base. SoCal then batted around its line-up, as nine straight Torrance batters reached base. That included singles by Dycen Miyake and Navarro, a one-run single from Nuruki, a two-RBI single by Grant “Home Run” Hays, two walks, two batters hit by a pitch, and an error. Homerun Hays finished that contest with two hits, two RBIs, and scored a run. That dude is fire. With the win, Torrance improved its record to 16-3. The Comeback Kids clinched a trip to Williamsport, and a chance to face off against Hawaii in the West championship game. Hawaii clinched a spot in the championship by defeating Petaluma, 13-3, on Aug. 12.
(Grant “Home Run” Hays swats a two-run double, Saturday. Photo courtesy of ESPN.)
Houghton Stadium hosted the championship game on Saturday. Honolulu Little League of Honolulu, HI., won that contest, 7-2. Southern California jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Guess who caused that? Yep. Homerun Hays. The big kid drove in both runs with a double. However, Hawaii responded with a run on two hits in the third inning, and a three-RBI triple from Pelé Payanal in the fourth inning. That gave Honolulu a 4-2 lead. Hawaii’s boys then added three more runs in the fifth inning on four singles, a walk, and an error. Tyler Shindo pitched lights out for Hawaii. He took the mound in the fourth inning. Shindo pitched three scoreless innings, and only allowed three hits. With the victory, Hawaii won the West crown.
How the West was won.
Honolulu finished the region tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. That team improved to 10-1 for the year. As for Torrance, the loss dropped its record to 16-4. SoCal finished the West tourney as the runner-up. Honolulu and Torrance will each compete in S. Williamsport. Hawaii will do so as “West A”. SoCal shall be “West B”. Both teams begin tournament play on Thu., Aug. 19. It is almost fitting that SoCal enters with a lower seed. The Comeback Kids get it done the hard way.
(Hawaii all-stars with West Region banner, Saturday. Photo courtesy of Rob Iopa.)
Torrance faces a team representing North Manchester Hooksett Little League of Hooksett, NH. Honolulu squares off against one from Manchester Little League of Manchester, CT. Two Manchester leagues in the same event. What are the odds? Well, when Eastlake won the 2013 U.S. title, Chula Vista’s team was not the only Eastlake at S. Williamsport. That year, Eastlake Little League of Sammamish, WA., represented the Northwest Region. In fact, the two Eastlakes almost met in the U.S. championship game. However, the Sammamish team lost in the semi-finals. This year’s U.S. championship is slated for Sun., Aug. 29. Until then, stay tuned !!
Teamwork makes the dream work.
CaliSports News thanks everyone that shares our articles. Teamwork makes the dream work. On that note, CSN thanks Torrance for sharing my prior article, Southern California Needs One More Win To Reach Williamsport !! on social media. My next article promises to provide updates on action taking place at the Little League World Series. Until then, Let’s Go SoCal!!
Stay with CaliSportsNews.com, Southern California’s undisputed leader in Little League coverage, as we keep you up-to-date on all things SoCal sports! All Cali, All the time!
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