Babe Ruth stars to hit Modesto

Tourney features two local squads; play opens Saturday

Bee Staff Reports
Some of the top high school and young college players in the area will be playing in the Central California Babe Ruth 16-18 State Tournament starting Saturday and ending Wednesday at Grace Davis High School.

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Two teams from Modesto will compete, and one of them has a chance to reach the World Series title game for the second year in a row.

This is the second year Modesto has hosted the tournament. Last year, the host team won the eight-team tournament, won again in the Pacific Southwest Regional Championship then made it all the way to the finals of the World Series in Newark, Ohio, before losing 6-4 to the Portland, Ore., All-Stars.

Eight players, including five starters, return from that team, said coach Bobby Swedberg, also an assistant coach at Pitman High. Three of his former players — Austin Keaton, Ian Fregosi and Nathan Gonzalez — were key to his team's 22-2 regular-season record. Seven of his 18 players have college experience.

"These are all college-age kids, so they bring the experience along and the right chemistry," said Swedberg. "We look to them for leadership first. Ian (Fregosi) and Austin (Keaton) were big parts of the team last year; they know what it takes and what to expect."

Starting Modesto's first game, at 7 p.m. against Bullard, will be Martin Gomez, who pitched last spring for Central Valley High.

"Martin was a great addition for us," said Swedberg. "He put up great numbers at Central."

Vince Roberts, a Beyer High grad who pitched this spring for Modesto Junior College, "has had a great year," and also should play a key role, said Swedberg.

Among the other seven teams is the Modesto Astros, featuring centerfielder C.J. Dedauex of Waterford, pitcher Nick McCann of MJC and infielders Vince Helms of Oakdale and Julian Castaneda of Johansen High.

As always in July, it will be warm — which won't surprise players from Delano, Tracy, Hanford, Madera, San Benito and Fresno. Swedberg promises there will be lots of water, Gatorade and ice for players and shade for spectators.

The double-elimination tourney begins with four games Saturday, four Sunday, two Monday and one Tuesday and one or two Wednesday to decide the champion. Both teams that play Wednesday advance to the Pacific Southwest Regional in Watsonville. Only the winner there goes to the eight-team World Series in Moses Lake, Wash., near Spokane.