The Santa Ynez Heat went undefeated and captured the championship at the Dare 2 Dream Fall Classic in Paso Robles for the second straight year.
The Santa Ynez Heat pounded out 48 hits and scored 47 runs to win first-place honors in the 16-and-under division at the Dare 2 Dream Fall Classic Baseball Tournament in Paso Robles over the Labor Day weekend.
The Heat’s roster includes top players from all over Santa Barbara County — Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara, Lompoc and Orcutt—as well as from Atascadero and Paso Robles. The squad sizzled in its debut as a 16U team.
Isaiah Ramos went 4 for 4 with a solo homer and sparked the Heat to a 12 to 2 victory over the Bakersfield River Cats in the opener. The team’s leadoff hitter had the hottest of bat all weekend, going a perfect 8 for 8 in the first two games and finishing the tourney at 10 for 16 with two walks.
Coach Gino Fillipin presents the MVP trophy to pitcher Ozzie Medina.
In the second contest, the Heat scorched the SoCal Braves, 17 to 3. Daniel McKinney led the attack with a three-run homer over the centerfield fence; the hard-hit ball somehow managed to find his own family’s car amongst more than 100 in the parking lot and put a dent in the hood.
In his next at bat, D-Mac blasted a grand slam to left that also landed deep into the parking lot, but fortunately caused no additional vehicular damage.
In the semifinal matchup, the Heat kept those hits coming and downed the North County Bears 12-6. Each team got 13 hits, but the Heat’s hits were more timely, and with runners in scoring position.
In the championship game, some excellent pitching from the Central Coast Crushers slowed but did not halt the Heat hit attack, and the Heat took home the tournament trophy with a 7-1 victory. The Heat got some excellent pitching of its own, including four scoreless innings from right-hander Ozzie Medina.
Every player contributed with the bat, noted assistant coach and team statistician Gary Miller. Isaiah Ramos, Keaton Wink, Daniel McKinney, Kelton Torres, Ethan Hicks, Brett Fillipin, Ozzie Medina, Zack Snyder, Josh Miller and Boomer Duffey combined to hit .378 for the tournament.
“You all hit, from the one spot to the nine spot in the order, for average and with power,” Santa Ynez Heat Coach Gino Fillipin told his team in their closing circle. “I’d like to give this Tournament MVP trophy to all of you. But the MVP goes to one guy, Oz (Ozzie Medina) who really stepped up and got it done on the mound: Two strong outings, 8 innings pitched and zero runs allowed.”
There’s something about playing at Barney Schwartz Park in Paso Robles that must agree with the Heat. The team won its age division last year and now has a record of 9 wins and no losses in the Fall Classic tournament.
