The DubTown baseball team won its third straight NorCal Palomino Super Region championship after battling out of the elimination bracket, yet again.
The 19U squad recorded five straight victories, including back-to-back wins against the Commanders 18U team of Modesto’s Bel Passi Baseball program on July 14 at Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz.
It was a rematch of last year’s NorCal title game that took place in Modesto.
“They beat us the first time but we’ve had experience, we’ve done it before,” Aptos High incoming senior Samuel Garcia said. “Everyone really wanted it. We can’t win a game if you don’t want it. You need to have the desire, and we did.”
With the win, Garcia and a majority of his teammates captured their fourth straight Santa Cruz PONY championship—one Colt Division and three Palomino Division titles.
The amazing part is DubTown was faced with elimination all four times, including this year’s tournament-opening loss to Bel Passi.
On July 14, DubTown won the first contest 9-4, followed by an 8-0 shutout victory led by pitcher James Craig—a recent Aptos High graduate.
The right-hander allowed two hits with no runs while striking out four in four innings on the mound.
In the opening frame, Aptos alum Sam Chitwood hit a double that scored a pair of runs. Craig’s bat also came alive with an RBI double.
Watsonville High alum Josh Ybarra led Dubtown with three hits in three at bats, while Monte Vista Christian alum JoJo Keldsen and Los Gatos High alum Leo Manfredi each collected multiple hits.
DubTown—representatives of the Santa Cruz PONY Baseball program—qualified for the Palomino West Zone double elimination tournament in Norwalk, which is about 15 south east of Los Angeles.
They came out swinging with a 12-8 victory over host Norwalk in the teams’ tournament-opening game July 17.
DubTown was eliminated following back-to-back losses to Santa Monica and Baldwin Park, respectively.
“As a team we get closer, we get to bond,” Samuel Garcia said. “The competition is really good…We couldn’t hack it the second game, some walks, some errors, and some mental challenges got in our way.”
The team out of Azusa beat Covina Navy, 6-1, in this past Sunday’s championship game to advance to the International World Series in Laredo, Texas on July 26-29.
DubTown coach and Garcia’s uncle, Jesse Garcia, said the strength of their program has been, and always will be, pitching. But this year’s group also featured some speed and guys who made contact with the ball on offense.
Plus, most of the players were considered seasoned veterans after playing against teams with collegiate-type rosters since they were 15 years old.
Samuel Garcia’s dad, Andy, and Jesse Garcia, have led the same core of players for the past four years.
“They’ve all played together at one time, so the chemistry is just off the charts,” Jesse Garcia said.
Jesse Garcia believes having a family-oriented environment is what brings the magic to this group. He said traditionally a lot of coaches mainly focus on the top four guys—the all-stars—who get all the attention.
That’s not the case for DubTown, as the No. 14 player on the roster receives the same treatment and training as anyone sitting above him.
“That’s how the boys like it because there’s no favorites on the team,” Jesse Garcia said. “They all band together and that’s how they go for it.”
Samuel Garcia grew into the catcher position after taking over behind home plate three years ago.
“He’s always learned from us how to call the game, how to be a leader,” Jesse Garcia said. “All these leadership qualities are really starting to blossom now, along with his bat and with the way he calls a game.”
Becoming a team leader wasn’t something Samuel Garcia had planned out going into the season. It just naturally fell into his lap, especially after becoming DubTown’s main catcher.
“I wouldn’t say I was looked [up] to, but sometimes it was just there,” he said “I felt like I brought the energy, the focus.”
Other standouts include Watsonville High incoming senior Rudy Valdez, who has been playing under Jesse Garcia since he was 12.
“He’s always been a gamer, but he’s really growing into his size, he’s growing in his confidence, his athleticism and his skill,” Jesse Garcia said.
Mason Borrego stepped up tremendously and Adrian Leon was effective on the mound for DubTown.
Jesse Garcia said their philosophy is simply to prepare players to compete at the next level.
“They’ve all just grown up to be awesome men. They’re all respectful, they all do great in school, and they all are family oriented,” Jesse Garcia said.
2024 DubTown U19 Palomino baseball roster
Andrew Silva, Aptos
Sam Chitwood, Aptos*
Sonny Cope, Aptos*
Harrison Bechtold, Aptos*
Mason McKinney, Aptos
Samuel Garcia, Aptos
James Craig, Aptos*
Leo Manfredi, Los Gatos*
Jojo Keldsen, Monte Vista Christian*
Adrian Leon, St. Francis*
Mason Borrego, St. Francis
Evan Dyer, St. Francis
Edgar Ramirez, Watsonville*
Brody Legions, Watsonville*
Josh Ybarra, Watsonville*
Hayden Henry, Watsonville*
Rudy Valdez, Watsonville
Zander Miller-Brown, Watsonville*
*Graduated
