Local baseball team advances to Western Regional tourney
It’s been a memorable summer for the Windsor Cal Ripken 9-year-old baseball team, completing one of the best performances in league history in all-star tournament competition.
Led by manager Dave McFerren and coaches Travis Taylor, Steve Kramer and Jay Levar, the roster included Matai Fagaata, Kadin Jones, Keeyan Nevarez, Dylan McFerren, Gage Skerrett, Cade Taylor, Sammy Garbo, Jackson Levar, Charlie Kramer, AJ Rawkowski, Calen Levar and Micah Kushins.
The local squad began an amazing run with a third place finish in a state pre-tournament in Elk Grove last month, followed by a second place showing in the 14-team state tourney hosted by Rohnert Park.
There, Windsor posted wins over Elk Grove (7-2), Galt (12-6) and River Park (10-0) before dropping a 10-5 decision to Rohnert Park. Windsor squared off with Oakland in the semifinals, clawing back from a 5-3 deficit with two outs in the sixth inning to tie it up and send it into extra frames knotted a 5-5. The good guys ended the madness in the 10th inning with a six-run rally to pull out an exhausting 11-6 win.
The magic ran out in the title game, falling to champion Rohnert Park, 9-2.
The great showing advanced Windsor to the Western Regional Tournament in Bakersfield last week, where the team endured average temperatures hovering around 105 degrees.
Windsor was one of six teams to advance to the single elimination playoff round after finishing second in its pool. The team posted a solid 2-2 record, opening up with a win over Utah (10-4) before falling to Visalia (4-0). Windsor posted a 6-2 win over Guam before being eliminated in a 4-1 loss to tourney nemesis Rohnert Park.
