You gotta believe it: Sweetwater Valley 10U all-stars capture SoCal state championship

Virtually everyone associated with baseball at any level is familiar with the Little League World Series.

For those who have participated, it has served as a steppingstone to college and the pros. It also serves as a steppingstone to higher divisions at the youth level:

The Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series is ongoing through Sunday in Livermore while the Senior League Baseball World Series also wraps up this weekend in Easley, S.C.
The Junior League Baseball World Series rounds out the older youth schedule Aug. 3-10 in Taylor, Mich.

California District 66 Little League’s Spring Valley-Lemon Grove combo team is representing the Southern California region in the Senior League tournament while California District 31 champion 4S Ranch faced off play in the Junior League West region tournament 2-0 with wins over Nevada (12-2 on July 24) and Northern California (9-2 last Friday).

The 13-team tournament was scheduled to wrap with Wednesday’s championship game, then it’s off to Michigan for the winning team.

But all those teams had to start somewhere, and in Little League Baseball, that’s at the 10-under level.

California District 42 champion Sweetwater Valley Little League’s spunky 10U all-stars certainly paved the way for future teams by capturing this year’s Southern California state championship last Friday at Home Briggs Park in Ontario by defeating District 70 champion Vista Little League, 5-2, in an all-San Diego County matchup.

Golden moment
Sweetwater Valley ran through the 10-team bracket undefeated with four consecutive wins: 2-1 over District 28 campion Temecula, 5-2 over District 56 champion Golden Hill, 12-5 over District 36 champion Palos Verdes and 5-2 over Vista — to finish its all-star summer season with a 12-1 overall record, including district, section and regional play.

California District 42 administrator Ernie Lucero called Sweetwater Valley’s SoCal championship a “great accomplishment.”

“Their win marks them as the best team of 10-year-olds in Southern California,” he said. “This is a steppingstone for these players who will be 12-year-olds in a couple of years. At age 12, they will hopefully be able to play at the Western Region complex in San Bernardino and go on to Williamsport, Pa.”

Lucero said SVLL manager Ryan Preciado and his coaches were outstanding in strategizing and guiding this team against other outstanding 10-year-olds in Southern California.

“The District administrator from District 23 said that the manager, coaches, players, parents and fans were an absolute pleasure to host in the city of Ontario,” he said. “They represented District 42 and Section 7 with the upmost respect, dedication and high standards.”

Sweetwater Valley Little League will go down in history as the second team in more than 24 years in District 42 to win the Southern California tournament for 10-year olds. The last team in District 42 to win this title was Imperial Beach Little League.

Sweetwater Valley advanced from the District 42 championships to the California Section 7 tournament that featured all-star champions from California District 41 (Fletcher Hills), California District 66 (Spring Valley) and California District 22 (Calexico).

The SVLL 10s defeated Fletcher Hills, 8-0, to win the section championship en route to advancing to the 10-team SoCal finals, the last stop for this age-group.

All the way
Sweetwater Valley League president Joe Griffin called last Friday’s SoCal championship game against Vista Little League at Homer Briggs Park in Ontario “a perfect July day for baseball.”

The history-making game got off to an imperfect start for the Bonitans, however.
SVLL starter Deacon Preciado issued a walk and hit two batters. Vista took advantage with two hits to score two runs for an early 2-0 lead.

The course of the game started to change in the bottom of the second inning as Sweetwater Valley laid down bunts by Pablo Forero and Deacon Preciado to set the stage for a bases-loaded walk to Nico Aguilar. Joaquin Navar came to bat and crushed a pitch to right center to bring in all three runners for a 3-2 SVLL lead.

Preciado put the Vista order down 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings thanks to a cou-ple strikeouts and solid defense to continue to nurse the one-run lead.

In the bottom of the third inning the Section 7 champions capitalized on a passed ball as J.J. Rodriguez and Ezra Romero scored to up the SVLL lead to 5-2.

Vista placed two runners on base in the fourth inning, but the District 70 champions were shut down by the SVLL pitching and defense.

At this point, time was ticking down on the season for Vista and things were looking very good for Sweetwater Valley.

In the top of the sixth inning, Landon Camacho took the mound in relief. It was another 1-2-3 inning as the District 42 champions claimed their first-ever. 10U SoCal state title.

SVLL went undefeated in the section and state tournaments but needed an “if” game against Park View Little League to win the district tournament and keep advancing. Aaron Aguilar, Camacho and Preciado all pitched a complete game shut out during the all-star run.

SVLL scored 36 runs during sectional play while allowing only one run. SVLL scored 29 runs during state tournament while allowing 12.

The District 42 champions finished their history-making season 12-1 with a 4-1 record in district play, 3-0 in the section tournament and a perfect 5-0 at the SoCal championship event.

“SVLL had amazing pitching and defense through both the section and state tournaments,” Griffin said. “Chago Whitley was an iron man for SVLL playing catcher every inning of every game. The bats were timely thanks to patient approaches and taking what was giving to them.

“I would also like to add that the host for the state tournament approached me after the game on Friday and congratulated me not for the team’s victory but for their behavior. They said that our parents were the most respectful, the kids were the best behaved, and the coaches were the most professional. I took that has the highest compliment of Sweet-water Valley and the values that we represent.”

Next year
The SVLL 12U all-star team took an unexpected exit ramp off the road to the Little League World Series following a gritty 5-4 loss to District 31 champion 4S Ranch in a second-round losers bracket game on July 24 featuring another all-San Diego County matchup. The D42 and Section 7 champions finished their summer all-star odyssey with a final 9-2 record.

SVLL lost 3-1 to District 56 champion Golden Hill, the eventual state champion, in the first round to show just how close and competitive this year’s state tournament was.

“This team kept fighting, winning their ensuing two games before losing against 4S Ranch,” Lucero said.

The SVLL 12s defeated D41 champion Rios Canyon, 16-6, for the Section 7 title.

Golden Hill will represent Southern California in the West Regional tournament alongside teams from Northern California (Menlo Park), Arizona (Phoenix) and Hawaii (Honolulu). Games, which will be telecast on the ESPN platform, start Saturday and conclude Aug. 7 with the winning team punching its ticket to Pennsylvania.

Southern exposure
Spring Valley-Lemon Grove carried a 22-1 overall record into its first game Saturday in South Carolina against the host team, dropping a 7-1 decision.

The Sixty6ers rebounded with a 9-7 victory against Texas, the Southwest Zone champion, on Monday to remain alive in the 12-team tournament. The District 66 team’s next game was its last in the elite tourney after coming up shoert, 9-2, in a rematch Wednesday with Easley, which eliminated the Pennsylvania entrant, 11-2, on Monday.

The tournament continues through Saturday with elimination games on Thursday, the United States and International championship games on Friday and the tournament championship game on Saturday (U.S. versus International championship game winners).
The weather back in Easley may be hot and muggy (the high was 95 on Monday with overnight humidity of 81 percent) but it’s baseball as usual for all the teams that made their own luck to get there.

Spring Valley-Lemon Grove manager Esteban Virto described called it “surreal” just being part of the event.

“At first it seemed like any baseball tournament but then you felt the adrenaline and confidence of the other teams, all the teams that got there had to play great defense, you saw the velocity of the pitches, mostly in the high 80s (mph), and all the little mistakes that can turn costly,” Virto explained. “But it’s fun just being here.”

The Senior League tournament features 12 teams — six from the United States and six from International zones.

The six participating U.S. teams include Burbank American Little League (Burbank, Ill.) from the Central Zone), Dubois Little League (Dubois, Pa.) from the East Zone, Easley Little League from Easley, S.C. as the host team, Irmo Little League (Irmo, S.C. from the Southeast Zone, Northeast Little League (Victoria, Texas) from the Southwest Zone and Spring Valley-Lemon Grove from the West Zone.

Participating international teams include Guam District 01 Little League from Guam in the Asia-Pacific Zone, Wanneroo Little League (Perth, Western Australia) from the Australia Zone, Diamond Baseball Little League from Mirabel, Quebec) from the Canada Zone, Ameilia Baseball Club Little League (Guyanabo, Puerto Rico) from the Caribbean Zone, South Czech Republic Little League (Brno, Czechia) from the Europe-Africa Zone and Santa Maria der Aguayo (Tamauipas, Mexico) from the Latin America Zone.

Burbank American got off to a 2-0 start while Irmo also got off to a winning start. Spring Valley-Lemon Grove and the host team were both 1-1 in the early going. Pennsylvania was 0-1 while Texas was 0-2.

Puerto Rico was 2-0 while Czechia was 1-0, Australia was 1-1 while Guam, Quebec and Mexico were all 0-1.

Texas scored twice in the bottom of the first inning to take a 2-0 lead on Spring Valley-Lemon Grove in Monday’s elimination game but the Sixty6ers rallied with two runs in the top of the second inning to knot the score.

The game remained tied until Spring Valley-Lemon Grove poured across five runs in the fourth inning to take a 7-2 lead. But the Texans produced their own big inning by plating four runs to narrow the score to 7-6. The Southern California and West region champions tacked on two more runs to go up 9-6.

“They scored one more run, but we managed to hold them off,” Virto said.

Kaden Bedsole pitched five innings with two runs allowed to pick up the victory on the hill while Ivan Virto reached base four times with two hits and two walks, drove in one run and scored three times.

Catcher Isaac Lederer doubled to score one run and also scored himself.

“We were pressing them then we got that one big inning,” the elder Virto said.
The World Series exposure should spark interest beyond the 12U level, D66 administrator Rolland Slade said.

“Generally speaking, when local teams like the Sixty6ers going to the World Series we see an increase in inquiries and sign-ups.” Slade said. “These two leagues are two of the stronger leagues within the district. I believe their success will spark some of the other leagues to consider fielding teenage level teams. What a great way to spend a summer!

“I also believe the local high schools will see more interest from players. I hope that we can develop a relationship with all the local high schools and realize that the sharing of players is good for the community.”

4S Ranch is representing Southern California in the Junior League West Regional.

Scripps Ranch advanced to the championship game in the Intermediate 50/70 West Region tournament before bowing to Hawaii, 3-1, on July 24 in Nogales, Ariz.

Scripps Ranch finished 6-1 in the 11-team tournament behind Hawaii’s perfect 7-0 showing.

SWEETWATER VALLEY 10U
ALL-STAR BASEBALL TEAM

J.J. Rodriguez
Noah Winnick
Ezra Romero
Aaron Aguilar
Santiago Whitley
Landon Camacho
Pablo Forero
Deacon Preciado
Nico Aguilar
Joaquin Navor
Omar Aleman
Mateo Yriqui

Manager: Ryan Preciado
Coach: Daniel Camacho
Coach: Albert Romero

Southern California Little League
State Championship Tournament

12U Division

July 19-27 at Fountain Valley Sports Park
Saturday, July 19
Goleta Valley South (District 60), Encino (District 40) 1
Vineyard (District 71) 13, Huntington West (District 62)
Golden Hill (District 56) 3, Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 1
4S Ranch (District 31) 13, Upland Foothill (District 23) 1

Sunday, July 20
Winners bracket
Goleta Valley South (District 63) 6, Santa Monica (District 25) 0
Eastlake (District 72) 10, Vineyard (District 71) 2

Losers bracket
Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 18, Huntington West (District 62) 4
Upland Foothill (District 23) 4, Encino (District 40) 2

Monday, July 21
Losers bracket
Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 6, Santa Monica (District 25) 5
Upland Foothill (District 23) 11, Vineyard (District 71) 4

Tuesday, July 22
Winners bracket
Golden Hill (District 56) 3, Goleta Valley South (District 63) 2
Eastvale (District 72) 4, 4S Ranch (District 31) 2

Wednesday, July 23
Losers bracket
4S Ranch (District 31) 5, Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 4
Upland Foothill (District 23) 3, Goleta Valley South (District 63) 2

Thursday, July 24
Winners bracket semifinal
Golden Hill (District 56) 8, Eastvale (District 72) 0
Note: Golden Hill advances to championship game

Losers bracket elimination game
4S Ranch (District 31) 4, Upland Foothill (District 23) 2

Friday, July 25
Losers bracket semifinal
Eastvale (District 72) 12, 4S Ranch (District 31) 5
Note: Eastvale advances to championship game

Saturday, July 26
Championship game
Golden Hill (District 56) 8, Eastvale 0
Note: Golden Hills wins championship game

11U Division

July 19-27 in Oxnard/ Port Hueneme
Saturday, July 19
Encino (District 40) 6, Tustin Western (District 30) 0
Glendora American (District 20) 10, Goleta Valley South (District 63) 4
Point Loma (District 32) 12, Vineyard (District 71) 1
Aliso Viejo (District 55) 10, Torrance (District 27) 1

Sunday, July 20
Winners bracket
Encino (District 40) 6, Fletcher Hills (District 41) 1
Eastvale (District 72) 8, Glendora American (District 20) 0

Losers bracket
Goleta Valley South (District 63) 3, Vineyard (District 71) 2
Tustin Western (District 30) 4, Torrance (District 27) 2

Monday, July 21
Losers bracket
Goleta Valley South (District 63) 10, Fletcher Hills (District 41) 9
Glendora American (District 20) 9, Tustin Western (District 30) 2

Tuesday, July 22
Winners bracket
Encino (District 40) 7, Point Loma (District 32) 1
Aliso Viejo (District 55) 10, Eastvale (District 72) 8

Wednesday, July 23
Losers bracket
Eastvale (District 72) 5, Goleta Valley South (District 63) 3
Glendora American (District 20) 14, Point Loma (District 32) 11

Thursday, July 24
Winners bracket semifinal
Encino (District 40) 9, Aliso Viejo (District 55) 2
Note: Encino advances to championship game

Losers bracket elimination game
Glendora American (District 63) 5, Eastvale (District 72) 4

Friday, July 25
Losers bracket semifinal
Aliso Viejo (District 55) 5, Glendora American (District 63) 0
Note: Aliso Viejo advances to championship game

Saturday, July 26
Double elimination game
Aliso Viejo (District 55) 4, Encino (District 40) 0

Sunday, July 27
Championship game
Encino (District 40) 5, Aliso Viejo (District 55) 2
Note: Encino wins double-elimination championship game

10U Division

July 18-26 at Homer Briggs Park, Ontario
Friday, July 18
Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 2, Temecula (District 28) 0
Vista (District 70) 12, Huntington West (District 62) 2

Saturday, July 19
Winners bracket
Vineyard (District 71) 3, Claremont (District 20) 2
Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 5, Golden Hill (District 56) 2
Palos Verdes (District 36) 12, Ventura (District 63) 2
Sherman Oaks (District 40) 8, Vista (District 70) 7

Sunday, July 20
Winners bracket
Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 5, Vineyard (District 71) 3
Palos Verdes (District 36) 3, Sherman Oaks (District 40) 2

Losers bracket
Huntington West (District 62) 2, Claremont (District 20) 1
Ventura (District 63) 5, Temecula (District 28) 3

Monday, July 21
Losers bracket
Golden Hill (District 56) 12, Huntington West (District 62) 2
Vista (District 70) 11, Ventura (District 63) 6

Tuesday, July 22
Losers bracket
Golden Hill (District 56) 14, Sherman Oaks (District 40) 8
Vista (District 70) 6, Vineyard (District 71) 4

Wednesday, July 23
Winners bracket semifinal
Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 12, Palos Verdes (District 36) 5
Note: Sweetwater Valley advances to championship game

Losers bracket elimination game
Vista (District 70) 12, Golden Hill (District 56) 7

Thursday, July 24
Losers bracket semifinal
Vista (District 70) 8, Palos Verdes (District 36) 2
Note: Vista advances to championship game

Friday, July 25
Championship game
Sweetwater Valley (District 42) 5, Vista (District 70) 2
Note: Sweetwater Valley wins SoCal state title

2025 SoCal State Champions

10U: Sweetwater Valley (Section 7/District 42)
11U: Encino (Section 2 /District 40)
12U:Golden Hill (Section 5/District 56)
Intermediate50/70 Division: Scripps Ranch (Section 6/District 32)
Junior Division: 4S Ranch (Setion 6/District 31)
Senior Division: Spring Valley (Section 7/District 66)

Senior League Baseball World Series Scoreboard

July 26 to Aug. 2 in Easley, S.C.
Saturday, July 26
U.S. Central 9, U.S. East 0
Caribbean 16, Asia-Pacific 6
Australia 5, Latin America 4
South Carolina District 1 (host) 7, U.S. West 1

Sunday, July 27
Caribbean 15, Quebec 4
U.S. Central 10, U.S. Southwest 9
Europe-Africa 6, Australia 2
U.S. Southeast 5, South Carolina District 1 (host) 3

Monday, July 28
U.S. West 9, U.S. Southwest 7
Latin America 6, Canada 1
South Carolina District 1 (host) 11, U.S. East 2

Tuesday, July 29
Australia 10, Asia-Pacific 5.
U.S. Southeast 5, U.S. Central 4

Wednesday, July 30
Caribbean 10, Europe-Africa 7
South Carolina District 1 (host) 9, U.S. West 2

Thursday, July 31
Australia 8, Latin America 0
South Carolina District 1 (host) 4, U.S. Central 3
Australia 1, Europe-Africa 0

Friday, Aug. 1
U.S. championship game
South Carolina District 1 (host) 7, U.S. Southeast 4

International championship game
Caribberan 9, Australia 6

Saturday, Aug. 2
Championship game
South Carolina District 1 (host) vs. Caribbean

Senior League Baseball
West Region Tournament

July 16-22 in Oakland
Wednesday, July 16
Hawaii 4, Arizona 0
Northern California 7, Wyoming 0
Southern California 8, Washington 2

Thursday, July 17
Nevada 16, Montana 0
Southern California 10, Oregon 0
Northern California 14, Colorado 4
Host (Oakland) 4, Hawaii 2

Friday, July 18
Montana 7, Wyoming 0
Arizona 8, Colorado 3
Hawaii 11, Washington 1

Saturday, July 19
Arizona 18, Montana 1
Hawaii 15, Colorado 3
Southern California 14, Nevada 3
Host (Oakland) 5, Northern California 0

Sunday, July 20
Arizona 6, Northern California 1
Hawaii 12, Nevada 2
Southern California 4, Host (Oakland) 3

Monday, July 21
Hawaii 6, Arizona 3
Hawaii 11, Host (Oakland) 6

Tuesday, July 22
Championship game
Southern California 2, Hawaii 1
Note: Southern California wins championship, advances to Senior League Baseball World Series

Junior League Baseball West Region Tournament

Wednesday, July 23
Arizona 6, Oregon 3
Hawaii 20, Colorado 0

Thursday, July 24
Southern California 12, Nevada 2
Northern California 14, Montana 2
Utah 17, Host 2
Alaska 3, Arizona 2

Friday, July 25
Hawaii 13, Idaho 0
Southern California 9, Northern California 2
Utah 10, Washington 0
Montana 10, Nevada 9

Saturday, July 26
Arizona 14, Montana 3
Host 11, Idaho 1
Northern California 13, Oregon 9
Washington 9, Colorado 8

Sunday, July 27
Southern California 10, Utah 3
Hawaii 13, Alaska 3
Arizona 16, Host 1
Northern California 14, Washington 2

Monday, July 28
Arizona 3, Utah 1
Northern California 16, Alaska 0
Tuesday, July 29
Hawaii 6, Southern California 2
Northern California 12, Arizona 2

Wednesday, July 30
Northern California 3, Southern California 0

Thursday, July 31
Championship game
Northern California 3, Hawaii 2

Intermediate 50/70 Baseball West Region

July 16-24 in Nogales, Ariz.
Wednesday, July 16
Host (Nogales, Ariz.) 12, Northern California 2
Hawaii 8, Northern California 3
Colorado 12, Idaho 2
Oregon 7, Arizona 0

Thursday, July 17
Alaska 4, Nevada 3
Southern California 5, Host (Nogales, Ariz.) 3
Northern California 19, Oregon 0
Washington 18, Idaho 3

Friday, July 18
Hawaii 27, Nevada 1
Southern California 16, Colorado 1
Arizona 13, Alaska 3
Host (Nogales, Ariz.) 27, Idaho 0

Saturday, July 19
Hawaii 24, Oregon 2
Southern California 7, Washington 3
Host (Nogales, Ariz.) 14, Colorado 4
Northern California 10, Alaska 0

Sunday, July 20
Southern California 21, Idaho 0
Nevada 8, Arizona 3
Alaska 14, Oregon 5
Colorado 12, Washington 11

Monday, July 21
Northern California 27. Nevada 0
Hawaii 22, Arizona 0

Tuesday, July 22
Quarterfinals
(1) Hawaii 19, (8) Arizona 1
(2) Southern California 16, (7) Washington 0
(3) Northern California 14, (6) Colorado 0
(4) Host 21, (5) Alaska 0

Wednesday, July 23
Semifinals
(2) Southern California 6, (3) Northern California 1aa
(1) Hawaii 12, (4) Host 2

Thursday, July 24
Championship Game
(1) Hawaii 3, (2) Southern California 1

Intermediate 50/70 Baseball World Series

Sunday, July 27
Latin America 2, Mexico 0
U.S. Central 7, U.S. East 0
Canada 9, Europe-Africa 7

Monday, July 28
Latin America 18, Australia 0
U.S. Southwest 5, U.S. Central 4
Asia-Pacific 11, Canada 4
U.S. West 17, California (District) 57 2

Tuesday, July 29
Mexico 3, Canada 1
U.S. East 4, California (District 57) 2
Australia 7, Europe-Africa 6
U.S. Southeast 10, U.S. Central 3

Wednesday, July 30
Mexico 11, Australia 6
U.S. Southeast 6, U.S. East 3
Latin America 15, Asia-Pacific 3
U.S. West 7, U.S. Southwest 0

Thursday, July 31
Mexico 7, Asia-Pacific 4
Southwest 5, Southeast 3

Saturday, Aug. 2
International championship game
Latin America vs. Mexico

United State championship game
West vs. Southwest

Sunday, Aug. 3
Championship game
Latin America-Mexico winner vs. West-Southwest winner

PONY-13 INTERNATIONAL WORLD SERIES

Tecolote 12, Pennsylvania 1
Carlsbad 5, Texas 2
Tijuana 9, Tecolote 4
Carlsbad 3, Nicaragua 1
Puerto Rico 9, Tijuana 3
Japan 9, Carlsbad 0
Tecolote 18, Texas 2
Carlsbad 5, Tecolote 2
Tijuana 6, Nicaragua 1
Tijuana 10, Puerto Rico 3
Puerto Rico 6, Tijuana 2
Japan 5, Carlsbad 0