Not only did Los Altos Youth Baseball & Softball host the The Cal Ripken Southern California Championships late last month, the local baseball All-Stars defended their turf to win the tournament for the fifth consecutive year and earn the right to host the next round.
The 2018 Cal Ripken Pacific South West Regional will be hosted by Los Altos from July 15 to 22 at El Dorado Park, and is being sponsored by Alfredos Beach Club and Play It Again Sports located on Katella Avenue in Los Alamitos. The winner will advance to the Cal Ripken World Series in Branson, Mo. on Aug. 3-11.
“We’re trying to reach our first World Series, and we want people to come and support our team as we represent the community of Long Beach,” Los Altos All-Star coach Dwayne Fowler said. “Los Altos Youth Baseball and Softball has served our community for over 60 years, and has provided an opportunity for boys and girls to experience baseball and softball in a family friendly environment.”
The Los Altos 12-70 All-Star team beat teams from Santa Clarita, Simi Valley and Cerritos to win the Cal Ripken Southern California Championships. Los Altos won all three of its games while scoring a total of 32 runs.
Los Altos pitchers Jake Fowler, Jack Godsil and Andrew Valdez picked up the wins. Luke Burroughs recorded the two saves, Matthew Pappas had the third save. The Los Altos offense was led by Jake Evans, who hit over .500 for the weekend, and Lucas Scott, who hit three home runs.
All of the Cal Ripken Pacific South West Regional games will be at El Dorado Park’s Field 1 after the opening ceremonies on Sunday.
“We have a long standing partnership with the city of Long Beach that allows us to maintain some of the most beautiful fields in the city,” Fowler said. “We’d like to thank all the staff in the parks and recreation department for their support of our program.”
Los Altos will start its slate of four pool play games on Monday at 7 p.m. against Carbon, Utah. The top two teams from each pool will play a four-team single elimination bracket next weekend to decide who gets to play in the Cal Ripken World Series.