Livermore Teen Helps USA Earn Gold Medal in Latin America Baseball Classic

While some teens are enjoying their last few days of summer at the beach or on family vacations, one Livermore teen traveled to the Dominican Republic to help the 16U LABC USA baseball team to the gold medal.

Chris Roessler pitched a complete game win in game 3 of the tournament to help the USA team advance to the medal rounds.

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The Latin America Baseball Classic is held annually in Santo Domingo and features teams from the Dominican Republic, Canada and the USA.

According to Big League Edge, it is the largest international youth baseball event in Latin America.

The team was coached by former Major League pitcher Jim Parque and MLB Scout Chris Pera. Members were chosen from 30+ tryouts held across the United States.

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This was the first time many players on the USA team have been to a less developed country. The players and families brought old baseball gear, clothes and school supplies to give to the Dominicans as a good will gesture.

Chris said, “This was an eye opening experience as many of the Latin players were playing with old or damaged equipment. One game the other team was using a bat that was bent because that was all they had. In another game, the other team did not have enough helmets. When they loaded the bases, they had to borrow one of ours for the batter.”

Even though their equipment may have been old, the competition was tough with the Latin players taking big swings and their pitchers throwing into the 90’s.

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Two games went into extra innings.

Chris said, “This was a great way to end the summer and I will remember this for the rest of my life.”

Chris Roessler plays on the baseball team for Livermore Valley Charter Prep where he was the 2015 Bay Counties League MVP and plays for the Nor Cal Prospects in the off season under Coach Matt Crudale.

--Information and photos provided by Chris Roessler’s father, Louie Roessler