For preteen boys, summer vacation can be the best time of year. Staying up late, sleeping in and spending hours lounging by the pool.
The Hart Gold 10U Mustang baseball team gave that up this summer in hopes of a Mustang World Series Championship – and it paid off
Hart won the title after an 11-1 win over Mexico on Sunday.
“(We’ve practiced) six days a week since Memorial Day weekend and up until this finale,” said coach Roland De La Maza. “It’s been a long road and serious grind, and these kids put in every bit of effort that they could and they’re champions.”
The team arrived in Youngsville, Louisiana, on Wednesday, then on Thursday attended the opening ceremonies and began play.
They went on a 4-0 tear, beating every team in the series right down to Mexico in the championship game.
De La Maza said that Mexico kept it close early, but Hart had an offensive surge in the fourth inning and excellent pitching from Taj Brar.
Brar took home the ERA award for the tournament after throwing for six innings in the championship game, giving up zero earned runs for the win.
As a team at the World Series, Hart owned a .433 batting average and a 2.00 ERA.
“I told these kids when this thing started they would represent Santa Clarita and then before you know it, you’re going to be representing Southern California and then they were representing California, then all the sudden we were chanting ‘USA’ in the stands,” De La Maza said.
The team will be the same next summer, according to De La Maza. After some time off, Hart will resume practice in November.
“They all bought into it in June and they all wanted to do it,” De La Maza said. “They gave everything they had every day. We practiced every day and had a tournament every weekend. But they love this, they love being around each other.”
