- November 23, 2024
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The Palm Coast Junior All-Stars were excited to advance to the Little League State Championship Tournament this past weekend, winning the Section 3 title. They felt even better beating Baker County to do so.
Two years ago, in the same position, the PCLL All-Stars were blown out by Baker County, who eliminated them in sectionals. PCLL is currently made up of those same kids who experienced that loss.
“This is probably this group’s most meaningful win,” said coach Raul Hernandez. “What makes this work is the level of commitment from the kids, the parents and the coaches. We couldn’t do this without everyone’s support.”
For the most part, the All-Stars have cruised to this moment, except a slight scare in the section final. They won an automatic bid to sectionals, due to there being no other district opponents, and they opened the sectional tournament with a 12-1 victory. The most nervous they have felt was when they were up 6-5 in the final.
PCLL returns to the state tournament for the second straight year; its 12U All-Stars won the program’s first ever Section 3 championship last season. Included on this team are Donnie Little and Alex Machado, who played on last year’s state tournament team. They are both anticipating the weekend experience in a hotel, and they want to do better than last year’s team, which didn’t win any of its pool games.
The All-Stars will play three pool games, and, determined by their record, they will either move on or be eliminated.
“Our kids are die-hard baseball players,” Hernandez added. “They want to be out here. This is what they live and breathe. So, for them to accomplish this is gratifying, and it’s gratifying for me to see them enjoy it.”
If you go…
The PCLL All-Stars will kick off their Little League State Championship Tournament at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 22, at Azalea Park in Orlando. The park is located at 1 Carol Ave.
Best birthday ever!
Anthony Hernandez, on his birthday this past Saturday, pitched a complete game in the All-Stars’ 12-1, and he and his team went on to become the second PCLL team to reach the Little League State Tournament. Hernandez then went home and ate chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.
