North Hollywood baseball ends decades-long L.A. City championship drought by beating Banning
LOS ANGELES — The North Hollywood baseball team won its first CIF Los Angeles City Section title since 1957 by beating Banning, 3-1, in eight innings at Dodger Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Not only did the team end a drought that was several decades long by winning the Division I title, it did it without having a home field.
The Huskies (20-12) have practiced at a park 20 minutes away from the school all season because its campus field no longer exits because of a construction project. Seniors on the team practiced on blacktop for the entirety of their freshman year.
“It doesn’t feel real,” North Hollywood senior Cristian Calderon said. “It just means everything. It’s the definition of a Cinderella story.”
Nick Park hit two triples in the game — the second of which drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth inning. He scored Diego Velazquez and Calderon brought in Park with a single for an insurance run.
Calderon also took the mound in the eighth inning when starting pitcher Max Koster surpassed 100 pitches. Calderon pitched an inning of relief and struck out Banning’s Daniel Sanchez to win the championship game.
Good morning from Dodger Stadium! North Hollywood and Banning baseball are set to face off in the City Section Division I championship game in roughly 10 minutes. pic.twitter.com/UffBVAA3BA
— Haley Sawyer (@haleymsawyer) May 25, 2024
“My teammates say every time I’m on the mound they’re super comfortable,” Calderon said. “But every time I go up there, I’m almost shaking all the time because I don’t want to lose it for these guys. These are my brothers. I don’t want to let them down, and I haven’t yet.”
North Hollywood went three up, three down in the third and fourth innings before getting on the scoreboard in the fifth inning against Banning (18-4), which was trying to win its first City title since 1961.
Richard Ruvalcaba bunted to get on base, then Diego Velazquez singled to deep left field to drive him in for a 1-0 advantage.
“The (Banning) pitcher got in a groove,” North Hollywood coach Eder Tapia said. “So I told my guys, you can’t let them work that quickly. You guys need to take some pitches and make them work a little bit more. Make them struggle and that’s what we did. We were able to get one on the board.”
The Huskies could have stayed alive in that frame, but Banning right fielder Pedro Ibanez-Eddy backpedaled and leaped backward over the first baseline wall for the foul-out catch that ended the inning.
Banning’s Phillip Melgoza reached first on an error in the bottom of the fifth and Angelo Duarte was walked immediately after that. Chris Martinez scored Melgoza with a sacrifice bunt and Isaac Martinez had initially appeared to drive in Duarte on a sacrifice fly, but the run was later waved off when officials ruled that the runner had left the base early.
Park hit his first triple of the game in the sixth inning but was later tagged out at home. He more than made up for it when he went deep in the eighth frame.
“I was just yelling, it was crazy,” Park said of his second triple. “I’m so glad I could get a hit.”
North Hollywood lost six of its first seven games of the season but slowly turned its season around. In March, it won back-to-back games in extra innings.
From pavement to park to Dodger Stadium, the Huskies have etched their name in City Section history.
“It’s been a tough process,” Tapia said. “We don’t have a baseball field. Every game whether we’re the home team or away team, it’s always on the road. But these kids bought into it. They never gave up.”