The Dos Pueblos Little League 14U All-Stars are in the midst of a magical run and reached another milestone on Friday by capturing the SoCal State Championship with an 11-1 victory over Vista Little League.
The team will now represent Southern California in the West Region Tournament in Bend, Oregon, beginning with a matchup against the Nevada State Champions on Wednesday at 2 p.m.
“Most of these kids have been playing together since they were about 8 years old. I have spent six or seven years coaching most of them through little league and club baseball, as well,” said head coach Jacob Pepper. “This is kind of our last year together before everybody is off to high school.”
After losing their first game of the double-elimination SoCal tournament, Dos Pueblos Little League ripped off six consecutive wins to capture the championship. They are the first team in the history of Dos Pueblos Little League to advance past the Southern California Tournament.
“We don’t have a ton of hard throwers. We don’t have a ton of huge bats. We just kind of put all the little things together and execute,” Pepper said. “It all kind of came together on Friday. When you are playing that many games out of the losers’ bracket, you are actually getting a lot more reps than some of the teams in the winners’ bracket, so I actually felt like the momentum and the energy was moving in the right direction.”
The Dos Pueblos Little League Junior All-Stars are Matt Brennan, Holden Brey, Max Cruse, Charlie Douglas, Gabe Estrella, Grady Felix, Ollie Gesswein, Isaac Guttierez, Adan Macias, Seth Orozco, Kian Palmer, and Jonah Pepper.
The team is managed by Jacob Pepper with coaches Dan Brennan, Jeff Palmer, and Dave Robertson.
To help the team with the significant cost of this once-in-a-lifetime experience as they pursue a Little League World Series Championship, make a tax-deductible donation to Dos Pueblos Little League.