With their fourth-straight victory on Tuesday afternoon, July 28, the Sunnyvale Junior All Stars find themselves just two wins away from clinching a spot in the Junior League World Series. After dropping the opening game of the West Regional tournament to Hawaii by a lopsided 25-7 final, the Sunnyvale squad has locked back in and rolled off wins by scores of 16-0, 6-5, 18-3, and 14-1. 

Sunnyvale, the Northern California representatives in the West tournament, will now face its toughest test yet. Not only will the team have to defeat Hawaii in a rematch on the 29th, but then the tournament championship game on July 30th against a Southern California squad that has already beaten the Maui-based Hawaiian team.

Despite a lot of lopsided victories on its summer resume, Sunnyvale would truly have to earn its ticket to get to the World Series, facing by far its biggest challenge of the summer. If you ask the players, though, their confidence remains at an all-time high. 

“They hit line drives into the gaps, they have some pretty good arms on the mound, but last time we did hit pretty well against them,” chimed Charlie Torbenson on the rematch with Hawaii. “We are just planning on coming out even harder, and hopefully we can come out on top.” 

“We’re gonna need to be pitching a lot better than last time,” acknowledged Russell Tang. “They kind of have everything; they pitch really well and they have great hitting.

“I think we can win; we just gotta keep hitting and then shut them down,” added Shota Sakuma. “We scored a lot last game; we just need to play good defense and lock down on that side of the ball and we will be fine. They do put the ball in play a lot, so we need to be ready.” 

“We like our chances. We are going to go out there with our best guy on the mound, and play hard, play good baseball. That’s all we can do, we’re gonna play hard no matter what,” noted Sunnyvale Manager Albert Tang on facing Hawaii again. “I think the boys were a bit nervous that first game. They have never been part of this tournament. Now that they are acclimated, I think they are in good shape.” 

One can certainly understand playing in a different state for the first time can be an adjustment. The West regional is being held in Bend, Ore. If Sunnyvale were to win its next two games, it will then fly to Taylor, Mich. for the World Series. 

“We’ve been playing baseball for the entire summer, and it has been a great summer break,” responded Sakuma on potentially continuing to play deep into the summer. “It’s been backed with baseball; it’s been really fun.” 

Rounding out the Sunnyvale roster this summer are Alex Yim, Brendan McElwee, Cash Dumesnil, Colton Sun, Dillon Kong, Gabe Gaul, Justin Gao, Liam Carvalho, Nolan Hagan and Paxton Sun. 

For all 13 Sunnyvale players, whether they advance to Michigan or not, it will certainly have been a summer to remember.

*Sunnyvale lost today (July 29) to Hawaii. Congratulations to the team for a great ride.

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