La Verne 12-Year-Old All-Stars Win Section Championship; On to Encino for Divisional Play

Garrett Weiss helped pace the La Verne offense with a walk, single and home run. (Photo by Bob Carmona)

Sparked by two solo home runs from Isaiah “Ice” Carranza, the La Verne 12-year-old All-Stars exploded to an 11-1 victory over Hacienda Heights to claim the Section 3 championship game at Highlander Field in Hacienda Heights and earn a spot in the Southern California Divisional Tournament’s North Bracket, which begins this Saturday at 10 a.m. in Encino, Calif.

After both teams went scoreless in the first, Carranza broke the “Ice” with a no-doubt solo home run to lead off the bottom of the second and give La Verne a lead it would never relinquish. The blow had the dual effect of loosening up the La Verne team and unsettling the Hacienda Heights’ squad. Sean Heberer followed with a walk and starting pitcher Joey Halabrin reached base on an error. Jake Tilton then smashed a double to score both Heberer and Halabrin to stretch La Verne’s lead to 3-0.

“I don’t even know what to say about Isaiah at this tournament,” said Manager Bobby Diebold. “He has come up so big. They all have. But Isaiah and (Garrett) Weiss just seem to be in the right spot at the right time, and every time I look up, if Isaiah’s coming up, I know something good is going to happen. He is seeing the ball very well right now, and so is Garrett.”

Carranza hit another solo shot in the third, this blast coming with two outs. La Verne went on score another run on a walk to Cordell Smith and an RBI double by Halabrin.

In the bottom of the fourth, it was Weiss’ turn to leave the yard.

“Weiss’ on-base percentage is silly,” Diebold said. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s ridiculous.”

Again the home run set up a bigger inning. Tanner Diebold walked and Robert Peterson singled before Carranza scored them both with a two-run RBI single.

“Our whole line-up is very strong,” Diebold added. “They all seem to be lifting each other up when they need it. They’re doing a fantastic job.”

More game heroics from, left, Isaiah Carranza, Joey Halabrin and Jake Tilton.

Tilton’s two doubles and three RBIs on the evening also caught the coach’s eye.

“He got a couple of big hits for us,” Diebold said. “It’s tough, you look to put him in the starting line-up. Everybody deserves to be in that starting line-up. His two-run double pushed our lead to 3-0.”

Benefiting most from the strong offense was La Verne starting pitcher Halabrin, who aided his own cause by collecting two hits, including a single, double and RBI.

“Sometimes, you feel that’s what Joe needs,” Diebold said referring to the early run support. “

Halabrin proved he’s a big-stage performer. He came into the game with an inner ear infection, but didn’t let the irritation affect his play.

“He missed batting practice tonight,” Diebold said. “We told him to just get his rest.”

It worked. Halabrin set the tone early by striking out the side in the top of the first.

“He’s a hard thrower,” Diebold said. “He’s not comfortable to catch, let alone hit against.”

For that reason, his regular season catcher Diebold handled the catching chores behind the plate.

“Joe can overpower some teams, and he did a very good job of keeping his control tonight. As usual, he got us into the fifth, and did a very, very good job.” After pitching 4 2/3 innings, Halabrin handed the ball over to closer Robert Peterson, another great arm in La Verne’s arsenal of quality pitchers.

Ironically, whereas the game played the night before required every last inning, at-bat and strike for La Verne to pull out the victory, this time La Verne needed only five frames to claim victory on account of the 10-run mercy rule.

Hacienda Heights broke through for its only run in the third when Justin Barrios scored from third as Steven Diaz attempted to steal second. Out to a 4-0 lead, La Verne elected to trade an out for a run and threw out Diaz.

Now it’s on to Encino for La Verne, where the All Stars hope to keep the ball rolling. The Encino Little League field is located at 5120 Havenhurst Ave. in Encino. La Verne opens against the Section 4 champions at 10 a.m.

A total team victory.