Just as they had done each summer since 2011, the Los Gatos Legends traveled to Lafayette, Ind., striving for a Colt World Series flag. This year, though, the team of talented 15- and 16-year-old baseball players returned to the Santa Clara Valley empty handed.
The Legends’ four-year reign as world champions ended Aug. 12, when a team from Greensboro, N.C., knocked them out of contention for a fifth straight CWS title.
In fact, Greensboro claimed five straight games after losing its opener, including wins over the Legends on consecutive days, 6-3 and 15-5.
Puerto Rico walloped Greensboro 16-1 to claim the title, after four straight runner-up finishes to Los Gatos.
“We had the pitching and bats to win it, but defense killed us,” said Legends manager Frank Payton after the team arrived back home. “Play catch, field the ball and throw strikes and you will win 95 percent of the time.”
After making just one error in its first two games, wins over Hoosier North 7-6 and the Czech Republic 7-1, the Legends committed 11 in the back-to-back losses to Greensboro.
The West Zone champions had a good start in the first Greensboro game on Aug. 11. After Kyle Johnson (Leigh) slugged a double in the top of the first, driving home Andrew Cabri (Leigh) and Emilio Nogales (St. Francis) for a 2-0 lead, left-hander Nick Hoefling (Valley Christian) pitched four shut out innings.
The score remained 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth, when three errors led to five unearned runs. Greensboro took advantage of the Legends’ sixth error of the game and added another unearned run in the sixth.
No. 3 hitter Albert Hsiao (Leland) went 3 for 4, including an RBI double in the seventh. On defense, Hsiao played catcher in place of Jordan Modesto (Branham), who was kept out of the line-up because of an injury suffered in the previous game.
The Legends’ line-up already was missing the bats of infielder R.J. Teijeiro (St. Francis), one of just two players back from the 2014 team, and outfielder Alonso Vergara (Fremont). Both swung their bats well in the West Zone tourney, but Vergara suffered an ankle injury and Teijeiro was playing in the Perfect Game Underclassmen All-American games.
Modesto returned to the line-up for the next day’s Greensboro rematch but the Legends fell behind 8-0 in the first inning. Four walks, two errors, two singles and a big three-run home run were factors, as Greensboro was well on its way to the title match with Puerto Rico.
It was 9-0 before Johnson blasted a two-run homer off of the scoreboard in right center field. Greensboro made it 10-2. The Legends added two runs in the fourth when Patrick Wicklander (Valley Christian) crushed a two-run homer over the 407-foot marker in left center in the fourth and pulled within 10-5 when Hsiao scored on a hit by Nogales in the fifth.
However, Greensboro finished off the game and the Legends’ season with five more runs, invoking the mercy rule for a 10-run margin.
Top Legends hitters at the CWS were Hsaio, Johnson and Wicklander. Hsaio had the most hits (5), while Johnson and Wicklander had four apiece. Brian Tatman (Saratoga) and Dawson Brigman (Valley Christian) added three hits apiece.
Johnson was the RBI leader (7) as all four of his hits went for extra bases. The lanky first baseman smacked two doubles, a triple and home run.
“Overall, inexperience hurt us,” Payton said. “But we’ll be back. This is a good group of kids.”
This year’s Legends roster had only six 16-year-olds–Johnson, Modesto, Cabri, Hoefling, Nogales and Tatman–which means 11 players are eligible to return in 2016, including Hsiao, Wicklander, Brigman, Vergara, Teijeiro, Anthony Barnao (Valley Christian), Troy Gilmore (Los Gatos), Jason Munsch (Westmont), Arman Saraj (St. Lawrence Academy), Ryan Juncker (Leigh) and Christian Martinez (Evergreen Valley). According to coach Bill Gibbs, they all want to come back and make another run.
“The good news is we have a verbal from 11 players that want to come back next year to compete for the title again,” Gibbs said.
