Porterville falls in Norcal state quarterfinals

After an exciting win on Monday in the Little League Northern California State Championship tournament, Porterville’s 11-and-under All-star team was knocked out of the tournament after a 7-0 loss to Hillsborough in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Out of 250 teams, Porterville was one of only seven to make it to the double-elimination state tournament in Fremont after going undefeated and winning the District 34 and Section 7 championships. They finished the season as the only team in Porterville Little League History, to win two games at the state level.

“We’re proud of them,” said head coach Robert Vargas. “Not many kids have the opportunity to make it this far and we thank them for bringing us, as coaches, on their journey. None of us were ever good enough to make it this far and they were able to bring us, as coaches, to this point and we’re proud of them.”

Vargas added that the team finished in fourth place.

Against the Section 3 champion Hillsborough team, Porterville gave up all seven of the runs in the first two innings. Fighting from behind, Porterville struggled to string together hits and left runners on base.

“It was just the first two innings that got us. If we would’ve held them to a couple of runs it would’ve kept us in the game but they got up seven in the first couple and it was hard to fight back,” said Vargas.

It was a tough loss for the team after a 1912 win over Section 1 champion Santa Rosa American. Tied at 5, Porterville erupted for an 11-run inning to take a commanding lead and never looked back.

On Sunday, Porterville suffered their first lose to Section 4 champion Tri City in a 10-0 shutout. In that game the team committed seven errors and their coach said they looked tired.

However, Porterville kicked off the tournament with an 11-1 rout of Section 2 champion Redwood Empire. Vargas contributed that win to the offense being fired up by outstanding play by the defense, specifically Porterville’s pitchers. Playing for Porterville were: Jayson Castillo, Jason Malindrini, David Zamora, Aiden Celedon, Gregory Franco III, Gio Chavez, Louie Torres, Ivan Arias, Colton Isom, Mattew Vargas, Ty Baxter and Jonathon Delgado.

Assisting Vargas were coaches: Benjamin Chavez, Jason Baxter and Russell Isom.