Bemedaled 12U Baseball Team From The SF Peninsula In Cooperstown

Article Source: Jacqui P. Conclara - Parent Liaison Rollingwood Elementary School

Bemedaled 12U baseball team from the SF Peninsula is Cooperstown-bound July 2018

Team has won five tournament championships to date

San Bruno, CA – Fourteen tournaments, 10 championship games, six second-place finishes, and four championship finishes. This group of 12-year old boys has come a long way since their team was formed in the summer of 2017. But, it was not always this easy.

It took a while to form the team and complete the roster of 13 players. The team faced what seemed to be insurmountable challenges in the beginning. Hindrances were encountered several times. The first round of tryouts was held in May 2017 and they joined their first tournament during the Memorial Day weekend that same month.

Most of these players started as strangers – two kids from San Bruno, one from South San Francisco, six from Millbrae, and four from Daly City. Yet, there was never a hint of awkwardness, even from those initial moments of getting to know each other. Laughter was a constant sound from their dugout.

They even had mismatched hats during the first few tournaments. But they all have one thing in common. They all share a deep love for the game of baseball. Their three coaches (Dale Brewer from San Bruno, Eric Ginebra from Millbrae and Angelo Manila from Daly City) are equally passionate.

The boys of the California Golden Gaters (Cooperstown 2018) are: Javi Manila (Daly City), Jeric Buncio, Jr. (Daly City), Parker Mendoza (Daly City), Ricardo Uribe, Jr. (Daly City), Aiden Adeva (Millbrae), Tyler Chan (Millbrae), Edgar Magaña (Millbrae), Matteo Fabbi (Millbrae), Oliver Ginebra (Millbrae), Jordan Zahar (Millbrae), Jake Brewer (San Bruno), Ryan Bower (SSF/San Bruno) and Sebastian Conclara (San Bruno).

Each player has played in their city’s respective baseball rec leagues since they were four- and five-year olds. Within a month or two, they started to win games, finish second and eventually win championships.

Tournaments

Every weekend, they joined tournaments that would take them miles away from the Peninsula. Their families would wake up and drive out early to Santa Cruz, San Jose, Antioch, Fremont, Sunnyvale and other cities in Northern California. There they would stay late into the night as the boys play 2-3 games a day and return early on the next day for the playoffs.

All their victories were achieved because they choose to play as a team. When one player is down, the next kid picks him up. In every game, these players were the epitome of hustle, grit, perseverance and hard work.

Championships

After fourteen tournaments in a span of eight months, they have won four championships together in addition to several second place spots. Their latest first place finish was earned last March 4 at the Frost Bowl 2018 in Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnyvale, Calif.

The team’s four other championship berths were earned at the following tournaments: Halloween Havoc in Antioch (October 28-29, 2017); Toys for Tots Baseball Tournament in Fremont (December 2-3, 2017); and the Golden Gater Invitational Tournament in January 27-28, 2018 at Glen Oaks; and the Frost Bowl 2018 at the Twin Creeks Sports Complex in Sunnyvale last March.

Cooperstown, New York

All the boys’ hard work are meant for their ultimate objective of winning against teams from other states in Cooperstown, New York. The Golden Gaters are scheduled to play at the Dreams Park in Cooperstown on the week of July 20-26, 2018. They will be pitted against other 12u teams from across the country for a higher caliber and level of competition.

Community Service

Meanwhile, these players are not all fun and games in their baseball tournaments. The boys also volunteered their time one weekend in February to teach new and younger baseball players the mechanics of the game at a baseball clinic. Though the clinic was meant to be a fundraiser with their coaches as instructors, most of the Golden Gaters volunteered to teach and guide the kids through the exercises and drills.

Fundraisers

In a similar note, the team and their families are raising funds to cover their participation fee in Cooperstown and the boys’ travel expenses.

They have organized several fundraisers in recent months as well as started a GoFund Me page. If you wish to support this team of boys, please donate through this link: https://www.gofundme.com/goldengaters2018

The team can be reached through their team manager, Eric Ginebra, through email address: cagoldengaters18@gmail.com.

Caption to above photo: Halloween Havoc championship win (October 2017) in Antioch, California. (1st row) Tyler Chan, Parker Mendoza, Jake Brewer, Javi Manila, Aiden Adeva and Coach Angelo Manila; (2nd row)Edgar Magaña, Jr.; Ricardo Uribe, Jr.; Jeric Buncio, Ryan Bower, Oliver Ginebra, Aaron Academia and Sebastian Conclara. (3rd row) Coach Eric Ginebra and Coach Dale Brewer

Caption to above photo: Toys for Tots championship win (December 2017) in Fremont, California

Caption to above photo: Golden Gater Invitational Tournament championship win (January 27-28) when all 13 players were present.

Caption to above photo: First Championship Win in Antioch last October

Caption to above photo: March Madness championship win (March 2018) in Sunnyvale, California

Baseball Clinic (3 pictures)

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Robert Riechel

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Photo Credit: Jacqui P. Conclara - Parent Liaison Rollingwood Elementary School

Source Credit: Jacqui P. Conclara - Parent Liaison Rollingwood Elementary School

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