How Sweet It Is For Sweetwater Valley !!

(Kapono Nakanelua won the title game Sunday for Sweetwater Valley Little League of Bonita in the California District 42 tournament. Photo courtesy of Jon Bigornia.)

Congratulations to California District 42 Champion Sweetwater Valley Little League of Bonita !!

Sweetwater Valley won the much-coveted district’s 2019 title Sunday by defeating Chula Vista’s Eastlake Little League, 10-4, in front of reportedly close to 400 fans packed in at the Bonita league’s ballpark. The decisive victory marked SVLL’s first district crown since 2015. That year, its all-star squad advanced to the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, PA. Sweetwater Valley Manager Ward Lannom directed that 2015 team. His 2019 club heads to the Southern California Section 7 tournament. After Sunday’s win, he spoke with CaliSports News.

“I’m happy for the kids,” Lannom said. “They worked hard for it, and you see that on the field.” When asked how it feels to win the championship, the manager answered, “it feels good.”

Before recapping Sunday’s contest, CSN must share uplifting news. In my prior article, Smoking Sweetwater Valley To Battle Red Hot Park View, I mentioned that I empathize with young players on South San Diego’s Luckie Waller Little League. Since then, CSN obtained a copy of, and received permission to publish, an amazing email. Immediately after Sweetwater Valley crushed his team, 24-0, one of Luckie Waller’s coaches sent an email to the victors. Coach Mike Gage addressed his email to that Bonita league’s president and manager. In it, he wrote the following:

Model sportsmanship.

“I was really impressed with how the coaches and players handled the game today, and I just wanted to say thank you. You guys have obviously spent a ton of time working with the kids, and they look great. But more than that, even with the runs scored against us, both the players and coaches were incredibly respectful. They did not ‘rub it in’ or act out in any way, and I appreciated that very much. Also, the coaches did not take the opportunity to run up the score against us (holding runners at third), and I appreciate that as well,” he wrote. Gage continued:

“Thank you for the respect that you showed, and for setting a very good example for our players and kids. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it. That is what Little League is all about. I also wanted to wish you good luck against Eastlake, and have a great rest of the tournament!”

Wow! That is pure class. In my opinion, that email makes Luckie Waller and Sweetwater Valley look so good. I dig that a losing coach showed such tremendous sportsmanship, and I love that the winners refrained from running up the score. The email speaks well for both sides. That might be Rabbi Rabbs’ feel-good moment of the tournament. I felt compelled to share that wonderful news. Hopefully, that email made many readers smile, too. I gained mad respect for both leagues. Major kudos to each. Big ups. CaliSports News is so proud to cover District 42.

But wait. There is more. Eastlake’s manager offered his own kind words after his team’s heartbreaking loss on Sunday.

Good sportsmanship is contagious.

“Sweetwater is a great bunch of kids over there,” Eastlake Manager Shane Stroberg told CaliSports News. “In the end, you have to tip your hat to a great bunch of players over at Sweetwater. I know most of those boys pretty well, and one thing is for sure. Those boys will take those coaches on a great ride this summer.”

I think I am going to cry. I have the best job, because I work with the best people.

In any event, Sweetwater Valley finished the tournament undefeated, 4-0. On Friday, the Bonita boys advanced to the championship match by shutting out Chula Vista’s Park View Little League, 13-0. Six days after throwing three perfect innings, super red hot Ethan Otero earned the victory by hurling a complete game three-hit shutout. Remarkable. Dude is on fire.

“Ethan is throwing hard,” Lannom told CSN. “He’s hitting his spots.”

Crosstown Chula Vista rivals.

Then, on Saturday, Eastlake eliminated Park View with a decisive 7-1 victory.

“We had a gutsy pitching performance from Dylan Ferma,” Stroberg said. Ferma struck out 10 batters while earning the win.

That victory sent Eastlake to Sunday’s championship contest. I attended Sunday’s event. Ferma and Austin Stroberg each hit solo home runs to give Eastlake an early 2-0 lead. But, Sweetwater Valley’s pitcher Kapono Nakanelua then settled down, and threw lights out baseball for the rest of the game. He finished with five innings of work, giving up only those two runs, and scattering four hits. He picked up the win. Afterward, Nakanelua spoke with CSN.

“I was nervous on the mound”, he said. “But, I am happy we did really well. It felt great to pitch in the championship game. It feels great to represent District 42, and the communities of Bonita and Chula Vista. I am super happy to be here. But, I am nervous for next week.”

“Kapono has done really great,” Lannom said. “He and Ethan have both been on fire.”

The Bonita killers.

I mentioned earlier that Nakanelua settled down after giving up early homers. His manager explained that the whole team shares a tendency to start slow. Lannom pointed out to CaliSports News that in the four games Sweetwater Valley played, his boys never scored in a first inning. However, they sure came on strongly after that. The Bonita killers outscored their opponents during the tournament by a whopping total of 66-12. You read that correctly, 66-12. The 2019 champions erased all doubt as to which team deserves to represent District 42 moving forward.

After Nakanelua finished pitching, Eastlake hit one more homer in the sixth inning. Jake Robertson belted that one to dead center. But, it was too little too late for the Chula Vista boys that had performed well in reaching the district’s finals. Eastlake unleashed its own explosive offense during the tournament. That team scored 56 runs during its six games. Austin led the way by hitting five dingers, while Robertson contributed two. Ferma, Isaiah Cook, and Aiden Alabaran hit one apiece. Anthony Jacinto, Ruben Del Busto, Luca Penteriani, and Steven Ibarra each added timely hitting. Austin reportedly played with a broken finger throughout the tournament, and during Sunday’s game, the youngster re-aggravated his injury.

“I couldn’t be more proud of our boys from our community,” Eastlake’s manager told CSN.

Final note regarding Eastlake: I wish to mention that I spoke with several parents of Eastlake’s players during and after the game, and despite their team’s disappointing loss, those parents were so gracious. Some of the nicest people I have encountered while covering Little League.

Correction.

Editor’s note: I need to make a correction. In Smoking Sweetwater Valley, I goofed. No excuses. I misspelled Sweetwater Valley’s Cristian Jimenez.

Note: I prepared for sectional play. A car flag now proudly waves above the Rabbsmobile:

Sweetwater Valley opens the Section 7 tournament on Sat., Jul. 13, at Fletcher Hills Little League in El Cajon. District 42 practically owns that tournament. The “three-headed monster” won that section’s past 10 championships. During those 10 tourneys, District 42 only lost one game. That was back in 2012. Of course, the monster quickly recovered from that defeat to win that year’s title. It is time to bring back the boundaries map of the three-headed beast. This time, the diagram shall indicate in white lettering which years each league won the section’s crown.

Next, congratulations to Eastlake for winning the District 42 title in the 11U division !! In all, District 42 will crown champions in five different divisions. It is perhaps noteworthy that Sweetwater Valley led all leagues by sending teams to four of the five district finals.

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Finally, District 42 set a new record! Six of its leagues re-posted District 42 Monster Ready To Rumble on their Facebook page!! Of the eight district leagues that competed in the Majors tournament, one does not own a Facebook page. So, six out of a possible seven shared my article. CSN thanks everyone that shares our articles. Teamwork makes the dream work.

My next article promises to be a tearjerker. The inspiring story features an all-star that overcame tremendous adversity. You do not want to miss that. Until then, stay tuned!! Let’s Go SoCal !!

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One Comment

1. 

   Sylvia M. Ordaz

   July 31, 2019 at 6:32 pm

   I live in the Bay Area and have been watching the Little League World Series for many years. I watched the 2015 Sweetwater Team beat Hawaii. It was one of the most exciting games I had watched to that point. I am looking forward to seeing you and your players at the World Series. I know you will get there and make history! I am also very proud of all of you for the sportsmanship as described in email sent to your team. That is the one thing I look for when watching the games. Good Sportsmanship should be at the top of every ones list. Good luck players and coaches. Know that I will be cheering for you!!!