EMERSON, Ga. – The LBC Broncos are an anomaly for the 13u PG
World Series; many of their players are from a country outside of the U.S. All the
other teams in the tournament are U.S.-based, but the Broncos, who are from Mexico,
decided to take their talents to LakePoint, seeing what Georgia baseball has to
offer.
The team has been around for five years now and are based
out of Mission, Texas. Although they have four Texas-based players, they are
mainly comprised of players from cities in Mexico such as Monterrey, Reynosa
and Matamoros. Even with the separation between the cities, many of the kids
have played together for a long time and have been able to develop a good chemistry
on the field.
“I enjoy my friends and my teammates that I have known since
I was five or six, and we have played [together] for a long time,” Victor
Sanchez said.
The team is no stranger to baseball in the U.S., as they
play in cities in Texas such as Houston, San Antonio and El Paso during the
summer. In April, they played in the PGBA 13u South Zone Qualifier at McAllister
Park in San Antonio, Texas, and finished as the runner-up in the event. This is,
however, their first trip to Georgia as a team, and they said that they have
all enjoyed the experience in the new environment so far.
“It’s awesome,” said second baseman Juan Rivera. “The
facility is amazing and it’s just great competition.”
Their coach, Raymundo Berrones said that the competition in
this Perfect Game tournament is definitely the top of the line, which will help
their players get used to what it’s like facing better talent in the future. Rivera
said that he has enjoyed playing the tough competition and welcomes the
challenge that it brings.
“We’ve had some good teams that we’ve played and I hope we
can better teams throughout the tournament,” Rivera said.
Jesus Almazan and Sanchez expressed the same about the
competition, and said that they have faced tough opponents each game.
“It’s difficult because it’s a lot of teams and all of them
have a good level [of play],” Almazan said.
“It’s difficult because of the teams,” Sanchez said. “They’re
very good teams, and if we lose, we lose, so [winning] is our goal to reach.”
The chief difference of this tournament for the team is the
distance of the bases, which are at a longer length than usual for the
13-year-olds. Although the team has played in 60-foot mound and 90-foot base
distance events before, they said that the constant change between the two can be
hard.
“In Texas, Texas has good competition for baseball, but
usually we play 54’-80’, so it’s a big difference moving to 60’-90’,” Rivera
said.
The team has seemed unfazed by the extra distance, going 2-1
in pool play thus far. The offense has been their calling card, having scored
23 runs over their first two games. Berrones said that the key to their offense
is that they train every day of the year and put an emphasis on hitting.
In their first game, the team rolled over the Legends
Prospects, winning 12-4. Six runs scored for the Broncos in the bottom of the
first inning in response to the Legends putting up two in the top half. With
the score 8-4 in the fifth, the Broncos scored four runs to run-rule the
Legends. Carlos Vallejo came up big for the offense, driving in three runs out
of the No. 6 spot in the lineup, while Almazan turned in a strong performance
on the mound, throwing in five innings, giving up three earned runs, striking
out five.
The offense showed up again in the second game, as they beat
the San Diego Show. The Show are ranked as the No. 3, 13-year-old team in the
country, but the Broncos were not intimidated by them, scoring in every inning
but the fifth to run-rule them 11-2. Vallejo was the catalyst out of the
leadoff spot this time for the Broncos, collecting two hits and three RBIs.
Luis Nuncio also added to the scoring with a double and three RBIs. The team
used three pitchers to get through the game, giving each no more than two
innings.
Although the team was shutout in their game against the
Ironmen Prime, they are looking to rebound and will play Team Elite at 12:45
p.m. Rivera said that he just wants to enjoy his time here in Georgia and make
the most of the experience. After finishing second in the South Zone Qualifier,
he said that he hopes his team can win the whole thing.
“Just to have fun, try to win, make memories with my team and
meet other teams,” Rivera said.