Napa Valley Baseball Club 19U beats Bercovich behind early offense to win second straight tournament at Bill Buckner Memorial Fourth of July Tournament
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
YOUNTVILLE–Over the last two weeks, the Napa Valley Baseball Club 19U team has caught fire.
Last weekend, they won the Around the Horn tournament, and then on America’s birthday, they beat Bercovich 7-5 in the championship game of the 2nd annual Bill Buckner Memorial 4th of July Tournament at Cleve Borman Field.
Over the last few weeks, the team has been getting guys back from college and high school graduations, which has led to this. The thing is the Area tournament is coming up so it’s a good time to start playing well.
“I think we’ve finally been able to play together,” NVBC 19U manager Billy Smith said. “This whole summer has been about kids coming back late from college or school getting out late – we had a lot of graduation parties. We didn’t have a full team and like even today, we didn’t have a full team but that’s how our summers have been and we’ve got five games to prepare to get ready for the area tournament.”
When they got to the title game, it also helped to have tournament Most Valuable Player Elliott Zuidema on the team as well.
The recent Napa High graduate went 2-for-3 with a walk, single, double, stolen base, run scored, and two RBIs.
“Honestly, I haven’t been hitting off-speed well, so I was just trying to think hit the fastball,” Zuidema said of his approach. “Early in the counts, my hacks were a little bit too big, so I was missing the fastball. So I ended up getting behind in the count and I just had to you know, pepper it back up the middle. That’s what I was able to do twice to get those RBIs and came in the clutch today.”
In the semifinal game earlier in the day, Zuidema went 1-for-1 with a double, run scored, two stolen bases, and two RBIs.
“I love the kid and he had a great senior year,” Smith said of Zuidema’s day. “It makes me feel so good inside to see him develop and have the year that he had. So he was at the top of the order. He got a lot of key hits, driving in runs. Defensively, he played great and I’m just happy for him.”
NVBC jumped on Bercovich right away to the tune of a four-run top of the first, which set the tone for the game. It all began when Zuidema walked and got to third when Jackson Cole singled and got to second on an error. A single by Dylan Snider brought in Zuidema. A triple that went over the right fielder’s head by Jorge Lopez-Rios then brought in Cole and Snider. Lopez-Rios then came in when Connor Smith grounded out to second.
“Well, I think we catch them off guard that we have a bunch of little guys,” Smith said of the crooked number in the first inning. “They don’t think they’re going to have much, but these guys are scrappers and they’re grinders.”
In the second, the Napa Valley 19s scored a run when Gavin Rabanal walked and then swiped both second and third before scoring on a single by Zuidema.
Napa Valley Baseball Club added another in the fourth when Alec Deharo singled and then came in on a double by Zuidema.
NVBC scored their final run in the seventh when Cole singled and stole second and later scored on a single to left field by Carson Hall.
Bercovich scored their first run of the contest in the first when Austin Spears was hit by a pitch and got to second on a passed ball before scoring on a double by Jake Cross. They also scored a run in the fourth when Teru Khan double and scored on a wild pitch.
Bercovich added two more in the fifth as well. Spears singled and got to second on a single by Cross and stole third before coming in on a Jackson Nystom single. Cross then stole second and third before coming in on a fielder’s choice by Matt Elliott.
The final run scored by Bercovich came in the seventh when Cameron Calvillo doubled and then stole third and came home on the wild pitch in the same play.
Getting the win for Napa Valley Baseball Club in the title game was Erik Kvidahl. In a complete game, he struck out 8 and walked just 3. He earned the Most Valuable Pitcher award for the tournament.
“I love seeing Erik on the bump,” Zuidema said of Kvidahl. “Right out of the get-go, I could tell he is velo was there, his offspeed was there and his confidence was there, which is the most important thing for him. So he was just able to get guys to put the ball in play and defense work. So I love him on the mound.”
In order to get to the championship game, the NVBC 19s had to get past their younger friends the NVBC 17U team, which they did 5-3 in the second semifinal.
In the game, Austin Whitehead pitched a complete game as well to get the win. The southpaw struck out six and walked five.
Players and coaches alike said it was a fun opportunity to take on the younger team, which had many players they played with during the spring season.
“It was really fun just seeing them out there,” Zuidema said of facing the 17U team. “It was kind of hard not root them on. I knew it’s gonna be a pretty good game because obviously, those guys are really good. I loved playing with them at Napa High. Now that they were on the opposing side, it was just kind of fun to compete with them. I know they’re good players, so it’s just good playing against good players.”
Bercovich was a 12-2 winner over San Bruno VFW in the first semifinal game of the day.
