Run, run, Porterville moving on
Porterville wins sectionals, advance to Norcal
The Porterville Intermediate (50/70) Little League All-stars are bound for the Northern California State Championships after sweeping Chowchilla 13-3 then 11-9 to win the Central California Section 7 Championships in Saturday’s doubleheader at Divisadero Middle School.
“It feels good and it’s fulfilling,” Porterville manager Mario Velasquez said. “It’s good for the kids. They all get along and that’s the main thing. It’s great to be going to State and hopefully we can do something good over there. At least win a couple of games and represent Porterville.”
The Norcal championships begin Saturday, July 7, and run until Sunday, July 15, at Quimby Oak Middle School in San Jose. Porterville said Art Chaipa’s Welding has been a multi-year sponsor for the team and they were grateful to him for his support, but they would need more help and funds over the next couple of days to get the boys to San Jose.
Through the entire night, Porterville’s bats were on fire with the team racking up a total of 26 hits – eight of which were extra-base hits – and 20 RBIS between both games. Chowchilla only managed to strike out Porterville just six times, while Porterville’s pitchers struck out 19, gave up eight walks and allowed 11 hits through the two games.
“Everybody hit the ball,” Velasquez said. “That’s all we done all week, is hit the ball at practice. I’m happy to say everyone hit the ball and everybody got at least one hit. There was people that usually gets one hit [but] my grandson, he went and got three hits. Braylen [Segura], a 12-year-old that plays up with us, he got four hits.”
Offensively and defensively, the 11 to 13-year-old Porterville team was on from the start, but the second game was where -Porterville showed they could win under pressure.
Hanging on to a short 10-9 lead in the bottom of the sixth with a runner on first and one out, Noah Bowers relieved Luis Alcantar on the mound and struck out the next Chowchilla batter and forced the other to ground out to get out of the inning.
In the top of the seventh, AJ Sanchez gave Bowers room to breathe with an Rbi-double that extended Porterville’s lead to 11-9. The two then became a bit of a tag team in the bottom of the inning when Sanchez threw out a Chowchilla runner trying to steal second, then Sanchez struck out the batter at the plate on the next pitch. Sanchez walked the next two but when his team needed him the most, he came through and struck out the final batter for the win.
“It was like winning a million dollars, it felt so good,” Bowers said. He added that “heck yeah” he was nervous coming in for Alcantar, but all he needed was a quick breather to settle in.
“It felt good knowing that everyone kind of depended on me,” Bowers said.
For the save, Bowers went 1 2/3 innings with no runs allowed on three strikeouts, one hit and one hit by pitch. In relief, Alcantar went 4 1/3 innings with seven runs on seven hits, two walks and six strikeouts. John Franco got the start and went one inning with two runs scored on two hits, one walk and one strikeout.
In a best of three series, the second game was the first time Porterville fell behind with Chowchilla taking a short-lived 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first. Porterville rallied to retake the lead 6-2 with some help from Rbisingles from Alcantar and Bowers, as well as a two-run Rbi-single from Braylen Segura, in the top of the second.
In the top of the fourth, Porterville’s Andrew Cabanyog’s two-run home run extended the lead, but a lead-off home run gave Chowchilla life and they cut Porterville’s lead to 8-5. A home run from Robert Miranda in the fifth, plus the gamewinning run brought in by an Rbi-double from Sanchez, pushed Porterville ahead 10-5.
Two runs scored in the fifth, as well as a final run in the sixth, weren’t enough for Chowchilla to garner a comeback.
Cabanyog — who claims to be known as the “GOAT” for his skills on the field as well as in the game, “Fortnite” — was the team’s top hitter after going 3-for-4 with three RBIS, a home run and two runs scored. He also played centerfield for Porterville.
“I didn’t even know it was going over until I saw it go over,” Cabanyog said. “I was like, ‘I didn’t even swing the bat.’ Most of the time I just tap the ball and it just goes. And it’s true because my coaches tell me to just tap the ball and it will go.
Other top hitters for Porterville were Sanchez, who went 2-for-3 with two Rbi-doubles and two runs scored, and Segurea, who was 2-for2 with two RBIS. Daniel Nichols also went 2-for3 and Gustavo Andrade scored runs after getting singles in his final two at-bats.