SAN BERNARDINO — It’s not typical for a North Orange County baseball team to represent Southern California at the Little League West Region tournament.
Usually, if a group from Orange County makes its way to Al Houghton Stadium, it’s from a beach community.
“I don’t know what these kids eat, but it must be something good because every team we play we’re bigger,” Golden Hill Little League manager Joe Janicke said. “And not just the two tall kids we have. We’re huge.”
This year’s 11- and 12-year-old Southern California state champions from Fullerton are undeniably a little different.
“It’s got to be in the water,” Janicke said. “Our field is at an old oil site so maybe the tap water here is rich.”
Janicke’s team has won seven consecutive games heading into the West Region tournament, and are coming off back-to-back 8-0 victories over Eastvale Little League, last year’s SoCal representatives.
“The spirit is high right now,” Janicke said. “I don’t think these boys are afraid of facing a tough arm, or of not scoring for the first four or five innings, because we have the pitching to keep us in the game when it’s that close.
Led by hard-throwing Gavin Janicke and 6-foot Lincoln Ploog, Golden Hill has had a top-notch pitching combination for several years.
“In our district, we have a ‘Future Stars’ program that starts at 8 and 9 years old, and they play against other ‘Future Stars’ from other districts,” Janicke said. “So it’s five or six teams, and they get started from there, and we’ve had a couple of big horses who have been great since they were that age.”
Golden Hill claimed SoCal’s 10u title two years ago and lost in the championship game of the 11u state tournament last year.
“Both these kids have been giants for us,” Janicke said. “‘Linc’ is 6-foot and Gavin is 5-10, which for their age is tall, and they’re both good with the bat.
“And everybody knows that Gavin leads off, Lincoln hits fourth, and that’s kind of the way it’s been since they were 8 years old,” Janicke said. “They’ve just been big boys.”
On opening night, Golden Hill takes on Honolulu at 6 p.m. Manager Gerald Oda returns to the dugout for the Hawaiian champions, who won Little League World Series titles in 2018 and 2022.
“We’ve all seen on TV before that Hawaii comes in with hitters and good coaching,” Janicke said. “This year they’ve brought back (Oda), so it’s not going to be an easy task for sure.”
In the other West Region opener Saturday, Northern California champion Alpine/West Menlo from Menlo Park takes on Phoenix’s Arcadia Little League at 3 p.m.
Two other tournaments will be taking place at Al Houghton Stadium, where all games are free to the public.
The five-team Mountain Region tournament also begins Saturday. Those teams are North Boulder from Boulder, Colorado; Boulder Arrowhead from Billings, Montana; Summerlin South from Las Vegas; Lone Peak from Alpine, Utah; and Torrington from Torrington, Wyoming.
The Northwest Region tournament starts Sunday. Those teams are Abbott O Rabbit from Anchorage, Alaska; Southwest Ada from Meridian, Idaho; Murrayhill from Beaverton, Oregon; and Bonney Lake/Sumner from Bonney Lake, Washington.