The Westchester Babe Ruth 14 years and under baseball team defeated La Crescenta 7-5 earlier this week to take the Southern California State Baseball championship.
The team is made up of members from Westchester, Inglewood, Culver City, Santa Monica, Brentwood, Marina del Rey, Playa del Ray, Playa Vista and Ladera.
The team will now travel to Surprise, Arizona on July 31 to compete for the United States Pacific Southwest Regional title. The winner of that title will then go on to compete in Utah in the Babe Ruth 14U World Series.
On their way to winning the Southern California Championship, the Westchester team beat Torrance, El Segundo (twice), Heartwell and La Crescenta (twice).
"The program at Westchester is fantastic, and we couldn’t be where we are today without the amazing support of our community, as well as Westchester Babe Ruth and its President, Chris Lynch,” the team’s Manager John Lapatto said. “I’m very proud of the boys, they showed a lot of heart and determination…winning the Southern California State Championship this year is an incredible achievement, and I expect great things in Arizona.”
The Westchester 14U Babe Ruth team includes Avery Allen, Christian Amador, Jordan Caines, Reggie Castro, Anthony Chavez, Grant Craddolph, Angel de la Torre, Lawrence “LJ” Gilliam, AJ Inatsugu, Carlos Jacobo, Matthew Kanfer, Matthew Kaplan, Ethan Lazar, Mario Morales, and Jason Zeidman. The team is managed by John Lopatto, and coached by Barry Craddolph and Alex Galaviz.
To help defray the costs of their Arizona trip the team will be participating in several fundraising events. If you’re interested in helping with fundraising efforts or making a donation, please contact Terrie Chavez at terac57@hotmail.com
