Matthew Cobian reveals how he hit a solo home run in the third inning for ZT Prospects.
By Rich Bevensee
Spending the days with your friends playing baseball against top-ranked competition, then spending the nights hanging out with those same friends in a bunkhouse, making up games to pass the time, and possibly keeping coaches awake even after lights out.
It’s all part of the allure of All Star Village in Cooperstown, N.Y. Matt Vazquez and his teammates from ZT Prospects Arteaga of Fontana, California, took it all in wholeheartedly while giving 12U baseball fans a good look at one of the best club teams in America.
“This place is beautiful. We all want to come back,” said Vazquez after his team competed in the inaugural Ripken National Championships. “It was great seeing everyone who qualified for this tournament, playing against each other. The competition was awesome.”
Unfortunately for the California boys, their expected road to the championship was surprisingly cut short. ZT Prospects, ranked No. 5 in TBR’s national poll, was upset by Twitty City Athletics-Duke of Hendersonville, Tennessee, 4-3, in a semifinal contest which may have been the best ballgame of the tournament.
The loss was hard to swallow immediately after the game, but Vazquez managed to present a bigger picture for his Prospects.
“This was just a great experience, playing with my boys who I’ve worked with every day,” said Vazquez, Arteaga’s starting pitcher. “It’s not how we wanted it to end but we played well. They came back from 3-0. You gotta give them props.”
An informal poll of players indicated that the overnight factor played a major role in most boys enjoying their Ripken experience, win or lose.
“Honestly, the best part – beside baseball – was just bunking with my boys. That was really fun,” Vazquez said. “We were hectic. Pillow fights and stuff like that. They were playing whiffle ball. Everything. All of it was fun.”
ZT Prospects (58-15-2) took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning yet lost in heartbreaking fashion. Twitty City scored four runs in the top of the fifth, then held on as Arteaga stranded the tying run at third base in the bottom of the sixth.
ZT Prospects manager Alberto Arteaga, who has three older sons who all made a trip to Cooperstown to play tournament baseball, was blown away by the Ripken tournament staff.
“The Ripken experience has been top notch all the way through,” Arteaga said. “It blew my mind how everyone is treating the teams and the boys. Such a great staff. Managing the boys has been such a pleasure when they are being taken such good care of.
“They grinded all year long to get here and now they’re having a blast in the bunkers. They are making memories which will last a lifetime.”
Arteaga, whose team earned an automatic bid by winning a Ripken qualifier in Irvine, California, said his team was anxious to see just how good the 16-team Ripken field was, and they were not disappointed.
But they were not intimidated, either.
“For these boys it’s another baseball game and we train them to think that way,” Arteaga said. “We want them to carry the champion mentality. It’s just another game, just another team. Here, the crowd is a lot bigger but the kids do this on a regular basis and as long as they train their mind to treat this as just another game and to have fun, the rest takes care of itself. It speaks volumes how much we have accomplished with that mentality.”
ZT Prospects went 3-0 in pool play and defeated Bandits-WBW, a Cooperstown qualifier, 20-3, in the quarterfinals to set up a meeting with Twitty City.
Twitty City’s Klein Watson, second from right, is about to be mobbed by his teammates after his three-run home run gave his team a 4-3 lead.
ZT’s Matthew Cobian hit a solo home run to spark his team’s three-run, third-inning rally. Leadoff hitter Sebastian Zamora walked before Vazquez launched a two-run bomb for a 3-0 lead.
Twitty City was held hitless through four innings by Vazquez but broke through in the top of the fifth. Anthony “S.J.” Sewell got a two-out base hit, his team’s first of the game.
“I knew he (Vazquez) was trying to go outside corner. The whole game they were calling it there,” Sewell said. “So I got up on the plate and swung the bat. The pitch was a little bit further outside than I wanted it to be but I got a hit.”
Jasen Ward drove in Sewell with a single to right center. Two batters later Klein Watson, now facing reliever Andrew Peavey, nailed Peavey’s first pitch for his second homer in as many games, a three-run bomb to dead center field to give Twitty City a 4-3 lead.
“I knew he was throwing a little harder than the other guy so I used a bat weight on deck to time him up,” Watson said. “When I got up, I saw a fastball and hit it.”
The score remained the same until the end, but not without drama. In the bottom of the sixth, Peavey was hit by a pitch with two out and advanced to third on a Sebastian Perez base hit.
Twitty City then induced a fielder’s choice groundout to clinch the semifinal victory.
“That was a good competitive game,” Watson said. “Winning games 15-2 is easy, but it’s not competition. I’d rather play in a game like that. Definitely more fun.”