Even the sprinklers that turned on automatically and doused the outfield during the last inning of the championship game failed to cool off the Santa Ynez Heat. The 14-and-under squad’s bats were blazing all Labor Day weekend, as the team won all five of its games and took home first place honors at the Dare 2 Dream Fall Classic Tournament in Paso Robles.
The sprinklers turned on unexpectedly during the game
“Travel baseball tournaments are a battle of endurance, and only the toughest teams survive,” explained Gino Fillipin, coach of the Heat. “We had a 16-hour day on Sunday and beat three worthy opponents. I’m very proud of my players’ focus and tenacity.”
The Heat’s roster includes top players from all over Santa Barbara County—Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, Lompoc and Orcutt. All nine players contributed with the bat, noted assistant coach and team statistician Gary Miller.
One-two hitters Keaton Wink and Isaiah Ramos set the table and were rabbits on the base paths while three-four hitters Kelton Torres and Ethan Hicks came up big in the RBI department. Brett Filippin, Quinntin Perez and Walker Armstrong contributed timely strokes, as did Daniel McKinney, who pounded out 11 hits in the tourney. Wink, Hicks and McKinney homered for the Heat.
With strong run support, Heat hurlers took care of business. Josh Miller earned a complete game victory, as did Isaiah Ramos in the semi-final game. Keaton Wink made a strong start in the championship game and Zack Snyder pitched three stellar and scoreless innings in relief.
In Saturday’s action, the Heat downed the Bakersfield Wild Cats 8 to 6 and trounced the Fresno Nationals 14 to 3. Still, at the end of the day, it was the Santa Barbara Tide, the only other of the seven teams in the tourney with two wins, that earned first seed and a bye with its greater margins of victory.
On Sunday morning, the Heat scorched the Central Coast Crushers 13 to 2 and, in an evening rematch with Bakersfield, pounded the Wild Cats 14 to 3 in the semi-final game.
In the tourney’s other semi-final game, the Santa Maria Baseball Club upset the Santa Barbara Tide 6 to 4.
In the hard-fought championship game, what the PA announcer jokingly called “The Battle of the Santas,” Santa Ynez outlasted Santa Maria 6 to 3 in a contest that did not begin until 9:30 p.m. and didn’t finish until midnight. Exactly, at midnight, in fact, when the automatic sprinklers went on in the outfield, and could not be turned off.
In the bottom half of the seventh and final inning, down three runs, Santa Maria was at bat with two outs and a count of 1 ball two strikes on its batter when the ballpark’s powerful sprinklers erupted in left and left-center fields. Coaches, umpires and the tournament director huddled to consider options.
A suggestion that the teams continue play in the artificial rain was discussed but rejected due to safety concerns for the outfielders. The next solution considered was moving the game to an adjacent field, but that option ended seconds later when all the other sprinklers on all the other ball fields in Barney Schwartz Park began spouting water.
Finally, the umpires called the game and tournament officials awarded Santa Ynez first place honors, Santa Maria second place. The two teams, friendly rivals, agreed to play again soon—perhaps getting an earlier start next time.
The Santa Ynez Heat
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So proud of all the boys. They played so hard. We cant wait to see the next Tournament! Go HEAT!!