With a complete game pitched by German Fajardo—and an offense led by a three-run homerun in the bottom of the third inning by Dustin Bermudez—the Nogales Intermediate All-Star baseball team won the world title Monday night with an 11-4 victory over then-undefeated Puerto Rico. Nogales, however, was the one that ended its 2014 All-Star campaign with a perfect 13-0 record that included outscoring all its foes 190-25. The title makes this team Santa Cruz County’s first ever Little League world champions. “It feels amazing,” Nogales skipper Jorge Guerrero said by phone after the game. “The celebration is still going on. There’re no words right now. I’m way too excited and overwhelmed.” The same could be said for Fajardo, who hadn’t pitched since facing Northern California in pool play at the West Regionals in Nogales on July 20. Because of the time off, it took him a little while to get adjusted on the mound. “I was nervous at first,” the youngster said, “but once I got in there, I really relaxed.” Puerto Rico’s Mickael Roldan, Leonardo Lizardi and Robert Addarich, though, made it tough on Fajardo in the early going, when they helped the visitors score three runs in the top of the second and third frames. That, though, was before Bermudez hit his homer and gave Nogales a lead they would never relinquish. “My teammates helped get me up by scoring runs,” Fajardo explained, “and when Dustin hit his homer, I was relieved. It was really cool.” Dustin recalled that the pitch was a fastball, and that “ I was excited when I hit it, because I knew it was going out.” Puerto Rico, he added, “looked at me like whatever when I was rounding the bases because they thought they were still in the game … but once we got up, we kept trying to win and make the lead more.” Helping Nogales do just that was Jorge Bojorquez and Paul Carreño, who also had RBI in the cause. They both punched out two-RBI doubles that were part of 10 combined runs for Nogales in the third and fourth frames. “Our timely hitting was critical,” Guerrero said of his squads 11 hits on the night, “and once we went up, we didn’t look back.” “I feel amazing. It’s unbelievable,” added Fajardo, who gave up nine hits and ended the night with 2 Ks and 3 walks. The right-hander was also backed by a spectacular defense that made a handful of potential ESPN Top 10 plays—in a game that was aired live on ESPN2—and one from Bermudez that made No. 2 on the sports networks channel Monday night. “After a while, I even forgot it was on TV,” Fajardo said, “but knowing that it was makes it really exciting. It’s a once in a lifetime thing.” It also made Santa Cruz County history, which was Bermudez’s favorite part of the whole ordeal. “It’s a dream come true,” the 12-year-old said. “I still can’t believe it.” Guerrero—still searching for words—agreed. “It’s everybody’s dream when you start out,” the skipper said, looking back to June when the All-Star season began, “but it’s really so far away at the beginning that you really don’t know if you can get there … but these kids, they did!” SCC history: Road ends on top of the world after Nogales beats Puerto Rico 11-4 Story. Photo / Phillip Walton, SportStars Magazine Celebrate After defeating Puerto Rico 11-4 and winning the 2014 Intermediate Division World Series Monday night, the Nogales Little League All-Star baseball team celebrates in Livermore, Calif.
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 15:57:21 +0000
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