Culver City residents Jordan Caines and Jason Zeidman and their Westchester All Star teammates finished third in the country, going 3-1 in pool play, and defeating Missouri before coming up one run short against New Jersey, 9-8, in the 14U Babe Ruth World Series.
Westchester won its local district title, going 4-0. It then won the State tournament, again going 4-0. Next, Westchester won the Pacific Southwest Region, defeating teams from the Western United States, winning five of six games. In the World Series, facing the best of the tens of thousands of Babe Ruth All Star teams, Westchester relinquished a late in the game lead to New Jersey, which knocked the local all-stars out of the double elimination tournament.
“I can’t thank John enough for choosing me. I learned so much, made a bunch of new friends, and had a great experience,” said Zeidman, who played sparingly.
Pitcher Angel de la Torre who was on the mound at the end of the game, “I’ve never played with such great teammates. This was a special team, and I’m sure I will never forget this wonderful experience.”
Teammates are Avery Allen, Cristian Anador, Caines, Reggie Castro, Anthony Chavez, Grant Craddolph, Angel de la Torre, LJ Gilliam, AJ Inatsugu, Carlos Jacobo, Matthew Kanfer, Matthew Kaplan, Ethan Lazar, Mario Morales and Zeidman. The team was managed by John Lopatto and coached by Barry Craddolph and Alex Galaviz.