After triumphing in the sectionals earlier this month, the Sunnyvale Junior All Star team blazed through the NorCal Regional tournament. On July 16, Sunnyvale punched its ticket to Little League’s Western Region Tournament, once again holding strong and not losing a game.

“You always want to stay in the winners’ bracket; that gives you extra rest days,” said Sunnyvale Manager Albert Tang.

Sunnyvale won four straight games to win the NorCal Regional tournament. Despite winning out, there were some nailbiters for Sunnyvale. The little leaguers had to beat Turlock twice in the double-elimination tournament.

“Charlie Torbenson did fantastic on the mound,” said Tang of game one against Turlock. “He did six innings, and then we had our closer just come in and shut it down after he [Torbenson] reached his limit.

“Then, our last game, even though it was like eight-two, we didn’t really score until we knocked out their [Turlock’s] starter, and then we started to pile as many runs in as possible,” Tang said of the second game. “So yeah, tough games, but we were able to overcome a lot of adversity. We played fantastic defense throughout the series.”

With the win, the team heads to Bend, Ore. where it will meet up with teams from all over the West Coast and beyond. It’s an entirely new experience for everyone, including Tang, who has coached All Stars for nearly a decade but never made it to Regionals.

“I’m excited to go with them, continue their journey,” said Tang. “It’s really all about the kids, for the kids. It’s exciting to do this. I’ve been doing All Stars for eight or nine years now. This is the furthest I’ve gotten, into regionals. Gone to state three times, runner-up twice at states. But yeah, this is exciting for us.”

The players practiced in Sunnyvale on Sunday and then began traveling up to Bend on Monday. The tournament starts on July 22 with the winner advancing to the Little League World Series.

But for Tang and his team, they’re not thinking that far ahead yet. They’re living in the moment.

“We’re going to compete. We’re going to go represent the Northern California organization, but we’re going to also have a little bit of fun,” said Tang. “We talked about it in practice, and kids want to go after this. We’re excited to see a lot of teams from all different types on the Western stage. I think there’s like 17 teams going out there, so big, big pool of brackets. We’re excited to go.”

To help support the Sunnyvale Little League in its journey, reach out to fundraising@sunnyvalelittleleague.com for more details.