Rabbi Rabbs Ranks SoCal’s Final 10

By Rabbi Rabbs
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Updated: July 20, 2018

(From left to right: Huntington Valley Little League of Huntington Beach, with photo courtesy of Instagram; Park View Little League of Chula Vista, with photo courtesy of Jon Bigornia; and San Carlos Little League of San Diego, with photo courtesy of San Carlos Little League. Each league’s players pose with their respective section championship banners.)

I will start off today’s blog entry by posting a retraction. Sometimes I feel as if each article I publish contains a mistake. In a recent story, I printed the word “parody” when I had meant “parity”. Yeah, there is certainly plenty of parody in District 42. I can think of all kinds of material for producing parody in that district. In another article, I misspelled players’ nicknames.

And, this week, I messed up the upcoming schedule of Huntington Valley Little League of Huntington Beach. This screw-up was so bizarre that it is worth sharing, and nice hat tip to my friend Mark Cohen for catching this error. Cohen is a school teacher after all, so he is a pro at proofreading homework assignments.

I had written: “Huntington Valley will start the SoCal series on Saturday against the Section 1 champion.”

I could not be more incorrect. That league will start its play on Sunday, not Saturday, and will not face the Section 1 champ. So, how did I go so far off the rails? You got to see this to believe it. I had sourced the following from Unpage.org:

“Opening Round (Saturday, July 21):
Game 1 – Golden Hill versus Vineyard (11:00 a.m.)
Game 2 – Conejo Valley versus Quartz Hill (11:00 a.m.)

Winner’s Bracket Quarterfinals:
Game 3 – Temple City National versus Magnolia Center (7/21 – 2:00 p.m.)
Game 4 – Section 6 Champions versus Park View (7/21 – 2:00 p.m.)
Game 5 – Huntington Valley versus Winner 1 (7/22 – 11:00 a.m.)
Game 6 – Section 4 Champions versus Winner 2 (7/22 – 11:00 a.m.)

Elimination Bracket – Round 1 (ten teams remain) (Sunday, July 22):
Game 7 – Loser 2 versus Loser 3 (elim.) (3:00 p.m.)
Game 8 – Loser 1 versus Loser 4 (elim.) (3:00 p.m.)”

I had apparently seen “Huntington Valley versus Winner 1”, but it registered somehow in my tiny brain as “versus Winner of Section 1”. Huge difference. Winner 1 means the winner of Game 1 which is between Golden Hill and Vineyard Little Leagues. Whereas, Section 1 is represented by Conejo Valley Little League. Missed it by two full counties!

But wait, there’s more.

I had seen the very top line where it says: “Opening Round (Saturday, July 21)“, and then further down where it states: “Elimination Bracket – Round 1 (ten teams remain) (Sunday, July 22)“, and I had assumed, wrongly of course, that every game above that “Elimination Bracket” line was still part of the Opening Round, and thus would be played on (Saturday, July 21). I had never noticed the little “(7/22 – 11:00 a.m.)” at the far right end of the Huntington Valley line.

So, I made two reading mistakes. First, I had mistaken “Winner 1” for “Winner of Section 1”, and then I topped that off by not seeing the “7/22”. Gah!

I wonder how many other errors I have published that no one had caught. Folks, you get what you pay for in life. You pay nothing to read my articles, and I will just leave it at that. I just pray no one mistakenly shows up at the ballpark Saturday thinking Huntington Valley is playing that day. Hence, the retraction.

Next, let us focus our attention on that upcoming 2018 Little League Southern California Championship tournament which starts on Saturday at Aliso Viejo Little League in Aliso Viejo. Only 10 SoCal teams remain alive in their quest to represent Southern California at Little League’s West Region tournament to be held next month at Albert E. Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino.

Now it is time for Rabbi Rabbs to rank the 10 remaining teams. History has demonstrated that I am pretty good at picking Little League winners. In 2015, prior to the start of the district tournaments, when more than 300 leagues were competing, I had predicted that Chula Vista would send a team to that summer’s Little League World Series in S. Williamsport, PA. And I turned out to be correct. Well, sort of. Many of the players on that Sweetwater Valley Little League team from Bonita lived in Chula Vista, and/or now attend high schools in Chula Vista.

(The final out that sent a Chula Vista-area league, as predicted, to the 2015 Little League World Series in S. Williamsport, PA. Footage courtesy of ESPN.)

In 2016, immediately upon the conclusion of the district tournaments, I had picked Chula Vista’s Park View Little League to represent SoCal at the West Region. And again, I turned out to be correct.

In 2017, when there were only 10 teams remaining, just as there are now, I had given my no. 1 seed to Chula Vista’s Eastlake Little League, and my no. 2 seed to Santa Margarita National Little League of Rancho Santa Margarita. Those two leagues, as predicted, would go on to meet in the finals, but the reverse outcome happened, as my no. 2 defeated my no. 1. Oh well, I had come very close.

This year, well, back in May, prior to the start of the district tournaments, in Get Ready For SoCal’s Little League Baseball Tournament, I had written that my preseason favorites were Eastlake, Santa Margarita, Sweetwater Valley, and Foothill Little League in Upland. Well, none of those four reached the final 10, which only goes to show that the prior year’s performance does not mean a whole lot, as Foothill and Eastlake had met in the finals of the 2017 SoCal tournament for 11-year-olds. This year, as 12-year-olds, those same boys could not reach the final 10. Eastlake did however have a strong team this summer, as did Sweetwater Valley, but The Green Monsters from Park View beat both of them. That speaks volumes about the dominance of The Green Monsters.

Meanwhile, Huntington Valley has likewise played impressively, and both it and The Green Monsters are each 7-0. San Carlos Little League of San Diego has also performed well. Basically, those three teams stand out most to me from among the 10, and it is difficult to say which is the best until they actually face each other, or at least play against common opponents, which will happen sooner than later, as Park View squares off against San Carlos on Saturday in an epic Ogre Battle fight. You can come along, you can come along, come to the Ogre Battle of San Diego County!

(Back by popular demand. Classic footage of Queen performing arguably one of the most exciting rockers in music history.)

Therefore, with all of that in mind, here is how Rabbi Rabbs ranks the remaining 10 teams:

1) The Green Monsters
2) San Carlos
3) Huntington Valley
4) …
5-10) everyone else

I say those top three are virtually tied, but I must put Park View on top because I need to sit among its fans at upcoming games, and I still want to feel welcomed.

(The Green Momsters, as the team’s mothers affectionately call themselves, pose with their crazy uncle. Photo courtesy of Steve Wood.)

This week, I received the following awesome message sent to CaliSports News, Southern California’s undisputed leader in Little League coverage:

“The parents and fans of San Carlos Little League would love to invite Rabbi Rabbs to the [Wednesday’s Section 6 finals] game.”

I was so touched by that! It was so thoughtful of those people to reach out to me that way! For them doing that, I give San Carlos my no. 2 spot. Hey, I gotta sit with those people too, even if during a losers’ bracket game. So, I need to stay on their good side. Huntington Valley never sent to me an invite, despite CSN giving that league unprecedented coverage, so HVLL falls to no. 3, and there you have it, folks. That is how Rabbi Rabbs ranks his top 3.

I also give the nod to Park View for a more serious reason. That league has more playoff experience. Park View won the World Series in 2009, and returned to Pennsylvania only two years ago. And, the manager of that 2016 team, Jorge Camarillo is now one of The Green Monster’s coaches. Camarillo has the experience, and knows what it takes to win the SoCal tournament. That can go a long way, whether in adjusting pitching rotations, knowing how many pitches to allow each player on the mound, or how to prepare for opponents. Camarillo has a track record of making the right calls, and reaching the end zone.

And, this week, when I spoke with 2018’s manager, Will Bleisch, he told me he leans heavily on Camarillo’s input and experience. Advantage Park View. As for Bleisch’s feeling about his team reaching this far, he said the following:

“It feels great. The players are putting work in, and it shows on the field.”

(Matt Bjornstad, “Matty Ice”, the only player on Chula Vista’s Park View Little League team to have played as a member in each of the three heads of the three-headed Chula Vista/Bonita monster, and the son of The Green Monster’s team mom, pitches in relief during the California District 42 semi-finals. Photo courtesy of Jon Bigornia.)

(Conner Alonzo, “66”, of Chula Vista’s Park View Little League pitches in relief during the Southern California Section 7 tournament. Photo courtesy of Jon Bigornia.)

Finally, I wish to use this opportunity to thank and give a shout out to Lindsay Peck, The Green Momsters’ media liaison, for all of her time and hard work behind the scenes in helping this crazy rabbi produce so many articles this week. It was Lindsay that tutored me in the players’ nicknames and facial recognition, suggested I write a story on Kainoa Baptista, ordered for me my rally towel and size medium Green Monsters t-shirt, and most recently, on short notice before deadline on this article, secured the permission from all of the Momsters shown in that photo above for CSN to publish it in this article. Thank you, Lindsay. You rock! The Momsters have the right person on the job for media liaison.

Now, we just need the Momsters to get behind their crazy uncle’s desire for car flags that say The Green Monsters.

Saturday’s Ogre Battle will be a big test for The Green Monsters. Until then, Let’s Go SoCal !!