Napa Valley Fourth of July Invitational: Two local teams set to compete as field expands to 16 teams
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
The Fourth of July and baseball go together like popcorn and a movie.
But, starting on July 3rd the annual Napa Valley Fourth of July Invitational will get underway. The tournament will have a full 16-team field this year, unlike last year’s tournament that had 12 teams in it. That will mean that the four pool winners will face each other on Sunday, July 7th. The Justin-Siena varsity baseball field and Cleve Borman Field at the Veterans Home in Yountville will be the two sites used for games during the tournament.
“The main thing was to get back to 16 teams because it made it much easier as far as the scheduling and pools and everything,” said Steve Meyer, the treasurer of the Napa Joe DiMaggio league. “Rick Romero (president/tournament director) did a good job finding other teams.”
Napa Valley Baseball Club will have their 19-and-under team in the tournament. Last year they finished as runners up las year when they were a 17-and-under team.
“No doubt,” Meyer said of the importance to bringing NVBC back to the tournament. “Their performance last year was exciting, and it proved to a lot of people that they can do things. They played good baseball.”
NVBC’s roster consists of Aiden Stork, Alex Dehzad, Boden Cooke, Charlie Sietz, Davide Migotto, Dylan Foster, Dylan Rody, Jake Whipple, Jayge Campbell, Logan Nothman, Nick Schuttish, Owen Schnaible, Reid McCaffrey, Sam Coltrin, Stacy Nelson, Theo Llewelyn, Trent Maher, and Zach Joson.
Napa Valley Baseball Club is coached by Jason Schnaible, Reid Oster, Jimmy Campbell, JD Whipple, and Brett Rody.
The Napa Crushers, the lone Joe DiMaggio team in Napa, will also be in the tournament.
The Crushers roster consists of Riley Jacobson, James Palm, Zach Daniels, Sebastian Dennis, Scian Griffin, Caleb Loewen, James Snoke, Christian Kappler, Bodie Upson, Daniel Jacinto Jr., Aiden Chatham, Riley Carlos, Trace Willoughby, Calvin Snider, Daniel Healy, Nate Perry, Jacob Preston, Chase Carter, Braden Snoke, Tristan Dennis, Connor Ross, and Dylan Snider.
The Napa Crushers are coached by Mike Dozler, Andy Griffin, Kyle Snoke, Daniel Jacinto Sr., and Rick Romero.
The Pacifica Gamecocks will return to the tournament after winning the title last year. But according to Meyer, they will be much younger than last year’s group that was filled with mostly 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds.
“They lost a lot of players,” he added. “But, I’m sure they’ll come up with something.”
On July 4th, 5th, and 6th NVBC and the Crushers will play all their games back-to-back to each other in an effort to draw larger crowds at Borman Field.
“Everybody grows up playing Little League or Cal Ripken or something,” Meyer explained. “You want to see those guys continue on as friends. You know you have the Napa (and) the Vintage rivalry, then you throw Justin-Siena in there and American Canyon and St. Helena and everybody else, but I think there’s a lot of good talent in the valley. There’s a lot of talent not playing this year for some reason, but I think it was fun to set up the schedule just to have those two late games because those are when the bigger crowds show up, and both teams are in competitive pools. So, it’ll be fun.”
There’s a bunch of new teams in this year’s tournament. The San Francisco Hawks, Bay Area Bombers, Vallejo Hustle, Santa Rosa Rebels, Sonoma Stack, Power Baseball Club, and West Campus are all new to the event this year.
Besides NVBC, the Napa Crushers, and Pacifica the other returners are Daily City, South City Rangers, River City Outlaws, Half Moon Bay Birdmen, San Francisco Cardinals, and San Bruno V.F.W.
Games will begin on July 3rd at Justin-Siena when the Sonoma Stack takes on the Santa Rosa Rebels at 2:30 p.m., which will be followed by the Half Moon Bay Birdmen against Power Baseball Club at 5:15 p.m.
The first game at Borman Field will feature San Bruno V.F.W. against River City Outlaws at 9 a.m. on July 4th.
It will be $5 for adults to get in, $3 for seniors and students, and anyone in uniform, including military, first responders, or a baseball/softball uniform will be allowed in for free.
