| | |  News from Around Banderas Bay 
Guadalajara Wins 9-10 Year Old State Little League Championship in Inaugural Puerto Vallarta Hosted Tournament
 Bob Cohen - PVNN
June 01, 2010
The District 9, Region 3 Little League tournament (or in layman's terms, the State of Jalisco 9-10 year old championship tournament), hosted for the first time in Puerto Vallarta was a success in every aspect. Well, almost every aspect; our Puerto Vallarta youngsters didn't win the tournament, but they represented our city very well.
| | The Delfines celebrate after winning their opening game and the first game of the tournament. | 
| | The PV Delfines and Guadalajara reciting the Little League creed prior to their game. | 
| | The powerful Guadalajara team that went undefeated winning four consecutive games are one of the two teams that will advance to the Regionals. | 
| | Also advancing to the Regionals with a record of 3-1 in the tournament are Legion Zapopan. | 
| | MVP of the tournament was Guadalajara pitcher Juan Carbajal. He won two games and pitched six dominant innings. | 
| | League President Blanca Cisneros put in weeks of work along with others for the tournament to be a success. Here she poses after hitting the ceremonial opening pitch. | |
They performed very well for a second year Little League team and won their first game on Friday at 1:00 PM, defeating Metropolitana from Zapopan 15-4, in a game that was closer than the final score. The PV Delfines which is the historic baseball name for a Puerto Vallarta team opened a 6-0 lead, but Metropolitana closed the lead to 6-4 after three innings. After a scoreless 4th inning in the tense game, the Delfines exploded for eight big runs in the top of the 5th and held their opponents scoreless to win via the "mercy rule", 15-4.
The bad luck of the draw forced the Delfines to play after a short rest at 4:00 PM against powerful Guadalajara, who has a huge pool of teams to choose an All Star team from and also has dominated the State of Jalisco for many years. Our kids held Guadalajara to two runs in the top of the 1st and then came to bat against a pitcher that stood at least 5'8" and threw harder than any pitcher the PV youngsters had ever faced. He also had a spectacular curve ball. He struck out the side on nine pitches.
The Guadalajara bats exploded for six runs in the 2nd and pitcher Juan Carbajal again struck out the side and the deficit was 8-0. Guadalajara added six more runs in the top of the 3rd and the Delfines faced a new pitcher and almost as effective. He walked one batter but he was thrown out trying to steal and the other two struck out. All teams have to bat in four innings before the mercy rule takes effect and after Guadalajara extended their lead to 17-0, we had to score 8 or more runs to extend the game. We did get one run in and lost to a worthy opponent 17-1.
The format of the tournament was set up by a blind draw among the seven teams. Group "A" had four teams and began play on Friday and Group "B" began play on Saturday and had three teams. The winner of group "A" would play the runner up of Group "B" and the winner of Group "B" would play the runner up of Group "A" on Sunday. The winner of each game would advance to the Regionals which are going to be played in Torreon, Coahuila in Northern Mexico.
After Friday, Guadalajara was 2-0, Puerto Vallarta was 1-1, Legion was 0-1 and Metropolitana was 0-1. Guadalajara was guaranteed a spot in Sunday's game after Friday's games.
Before Saturday's games the official opening ceremonies were held at 9:30 AM. Dignitaries were on hand and Carlos Yerena, the Chief of Sports from the Mayor's office made some announcements to acknowledge individuals involved with the Puerto Vallarta Little League. Carlos recognized President Blanca Cisneros, Secretary and Director of Player Development Osiris Garcia and Director of Public Relations and Fundraising Bob Cohen. He then handed the microphone to Humberto Sansan, the Regional Director of Little League who made the trip to supervise the tournament.
Humberto spoke to the teams, officials and crowd and acknowledged that Puerto Vallarta was a superb venue and there will be more Little League tournaments here in future years. After the Mexican National Anthem, Yerena then threw out the opening pitch to President Blanca who hit the ball with some authority. Then it was time to play ball.
The Friday split gave the Delfines one more chance to play in a Saturday game in order to reach Sunday's final four round. Our opponent was Legion Zapopan, who according to experts was one of the three best teams in the tournament. We also had to win the game to reach Sunday's round of the top four teams.
Legion was defeated by Guadalajara on Friday 13-3 and this was their second game of the weekend. The PV Delfines led 2-0 after the opening inning and spirits were up and the home team crowd was cheering. Legion took a 3-2 lead after two innings in what appeared to be a tight game. It was apparent that legion Zapopan was the more experienced team and that would be the determining point in the game. More experience means more player development and starting to play competitive baseball at a young age. Some of the Vallarta kids were playing in their first season while many kids from other teams began at the 5-6 year old level.
Legion did get to our young pitching staff for nine runs in the 3rd inning and the Delfines needed to score at least a run in the 4th to avoid losing via the mercy rule, trailing 12-2. A big double drove in two runs and assured us another inning at least. PV added one more and held Legion to just two, then after a scoreless 5th they headed to the 6th and final inning trailing 14-5. The Delfines tournament ended with a ground out after a valiant effort, losing 14-6 in a well played game. The kids were thrilled to be able to play three games in two days and have something to aspire to accomplish for next year.
In Group "A', the first game, Guadalajara crushed Metropolitana 34-5 in a game that was ruthless and was stopped in the 4th inning. That made Guadalajara 3-0 in Group "A" and the winner. In the final game Legion faced Metropolitana. If Legion lost all three other teams would be 1-2 and be subjected to a tiebreak system. It wasn't needed as Legion defeated Metropolitana 11-0 in four innings via the mercy rule. That gave Legion Zapopan the 2nd seed from Group "A".
On the softball field Group "B" began play Saturday simultaneously to Group "A" games. The three teams in the group were Arandas, Ocotlan and Alfarera, all within 1 - ½ hours from Guadalajara. The opening game saw Alfarera defeat Ocotlan 18-10. Arandas then also defeated Ocotlan in the following game 18-13, meaning Ocotlan was eliminated and the winner of the Arandas - Alfarera game would be Group "B" champions and the loser runner up, both to play on Sunday. In a thriller, Alfarera defeated Arandas 15-12.
| For donations, sponsorships and further information we urge you to contact Bob Cohen at bob(at)banderasnews.com
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That brought us to Sunday after nine games in two days and the opening game was Group "A" winner Guadalajara against Group "B" runner up Arandas. Guadalajara was able to come back and pitch Juan Carbajal, the pitcher that destroyed the Delfines in his two innings. Guadalajara led 1-0 after an inning, and then exploded for eight runs in the 2nd inning and with Carbajal pitching, the victory was about guaranteed. Adding two more runs in the 3rd for an 11-1 lead Arandas had three outs to score at least two runs or the game would be over via the mercy rule. It ended 11-1 and Carbajal pitched four innings, allowing just one hit no walks and struck out seven batters.
In the final game of the long weekend, Group "B" winner Alfarera Telaquepaque played Group "A" runner up Legion Zapopan. Legion bats were strong early and they opened an 8-2 lead after two innings but Alfarera scored five runs in the top of the 3rd, answered by two by Legion. The game was tight after three with legion ahead 10-7. They added a run to extend their lead to 11-7 and Alfarera closed to 11-8 heading into the top of the 6th and final inning. Alfarera loaded the bases with just one out and a big swing away from a tie game or a lead. The Legion pitcher got the batter to hit a sharp ground ball that was turned into a game ending double play as the players celebrated. The final score was Legion 11 - Alfarera 9.
Advancing to the regional round in Torreon, a 12+ hour bus ride from Guadalajara are the powerful Guadalajara squad and Legion Zapopan. Congratulations to both teams and all the teams that participated. The MVP of the weekend was Guadalajara pitcher Juan Carbajal who pitched six innings, allowed just one base hit, didn't walk a batter and struck out 13 of the 18 outs he recorded. We want to see him when he is older than 10 and see what the prospects for him might be.
After the weekend a well deserved barbeque was held for all the volunteers that helped make this weekend possible. Teatro Limon donated some great burgers and some cervesas were bought for the parents that helped. The first hosting of a Little League tournament in Puerto Vallarta was clearly a success and they promised us they want us to host a tournament next year.
The tournaments aren't over for the Puerto Vallarta kids as on Thursday the 11-12 year olds will board a bus paid for by the City of Puerto Vallarta and head to Guadalajara for the division playoffs there. Eight teams will compete for two playoff spots. Our kids still have another shot at the Regionals. Go Delfines!
Your support provides endless benefits for Banderas Bay area kids, who will develop the qualities of citizenship, discipline, teamwork and physical well-being by participating in Puerto Vallarta Little League Baseball. To learn how you can help, send an email to Bob Cohen at bob(at)banderasnews.com. For more information about Puerto Vallarta Little League Baseball, click HERE.
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