The Santa Barbara Tides a 13U travel baseball team won the Santa Maria Starter Tournament presented by Triple Crown Sports. The tournament was played over President’s Day Weekend, February 13-14, 2010 at the Hagerman Sports Complex in Santa Maria.
Below are some highlights of the tournament overall and some highlights of the championship game.
The Tides started slowly and dropped their first game 3-2 before coming alive to win four straight games and claim the title. The Tides scored 42 runs in five games and pounded out 45 hits including 4 doubles and 5 triples. The Tides had four players hit over 0.400 for the tournament: Adian Williams 6-12 (0.500 BA), Daniel Buratto 8-16 (0.500), Patrick Thomas 8-17 (0.471), and R.J. Cordeiro 3-7 (0.429). Williams led the team in extra-base hits with 3 triples and Nolan Tooley added 2 triples of his own. Buratto led the team with 8 runs scored followed by Williams and Parker Rozenburg who scored 6 runs apiece. Tooley led the team with 7 RBI, while Rozenburg and Matt Gilligan each drove in 5.
The Santa Barbara Tides take a team photo after winning last weekend's starter tournament in Santa Maria.
The Tides proved they could also play small as Cordeiro squeezed home two runs and Hunter French squeezed in another. The Tides showed off their pitching depth in this tournament with seven players taking the mound for meaningful innings. The most notable performances came from Williams who had two starts, two wins and 7 strikeouts in 7 and 2/3 innings, Tooley who made 3 appearances, recorded 2 saves and 6 strikeouts in 4 and 1/3 innings, and Davis Valles who started the semifinal game, pitched 3 and 2/3 innings and struck out 2. The defensive stars of the tournament were the outfielders (Thomas, Tooley, Buratto, Gilligan and Nathan Kim). They recorded 11 putouts, including a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch by Tooley in RF to end a rally, and 4 assists in five games. The first-place finish earned the Tides a berth in the Triple Crown World Series in Steamboat Springs, CO this summer.
In the championship game the Tides took advantage of a tired Bombers Baseball Club Blue team and exploded for 14 runs on 12 hits en route to a 14-4 win in a 5-inning game shortened by the mercy rule. Aidan Williams (4-4, 2 triples, RBI, 3 runs), Daniel Buratto (3-4, 3 runs), Nathan Kim (3-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs) and R.J. Cordeiro (1-1, double, 2 RBI) led the way on offense for the Tides. Williams (4.67 IP, 2 K?s) and Nolan Tooley (0.33 IP) completed stifled the Bombers offense holding the Bombers to 4 runs on 5 hits.
The Tides roster includes Daniel Buratto, R.J. Cordeiro, Hunter French, Matt Gilligan, Nathan Kim, Parker Rozenburg, Patrick Thomas, Nolan Tooley, Davis Valles and Aidan Williams. The team is managed by Brian Cordeiro and the coaches are Steve Cummings, Jerry Rozenburg and Steve Buratto.
