Set against a backdrop of sun-kissed northern Rocky Mountains, this was a moment they'll never forget. The day Bubba Rae Chavez - the youngest member of her Senior Little League softball team - lifted Southern California to the World Series.
“It was beautiful,” said Jerry Chavez, who called the pitches for SoCal in a 5-3 win over Northern California Wednesday morning in the deciding game of the Western Regional championship round at Malach Field.
Indeed.
From her spot at catcher, Chavez recorded two critical putouts to kill NoCal rallies. The first came in the bottom of the fourth with SoCal clinging to a 4-2 lead. With Northern California's Briana Hardesty charging hard toward home plate, Chavez bare-handed a throw from left field and tagged Hardesty in the nick of time.
That was a preview of what was to come.
After Northern California cut its deficit to 4-3 in the fifth, Chavez delivered again in the top of the sixth with a two-out single that scored Vanity Martinez.
“The pressure was on, and I hate pressure,” Chavez said. “But I knew I would pull through. I heard my teammates cheering for me and I didn't want to let them down. I saw the pitch and just took it into the outfield.”
NoCal again threatened to slice into SoCal's lead in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases with one out. But two pop-outs killed the threat, the second coming on a foul ball Chavez tracked halfway up the first base line.
“I thought I was going to drop it,” said Chavez, who was joined in hot pursuit of the ball by first baseman Evelyn Sanchez. “We didn't call each other off. But I saw her and told her to duck.”
Southern California held on with a solid finish by Celeste Martinez, who earned the complete-game pitching win. Her team will make its first appearance in the Senior World Series on Aug. 3-9 in Roxana, Del.
“This is by far the best thing that could happen to me,” Jerry Chavez said. “In 1984 I played in Little League and we were one game from going to regionals. Now my daughter has surpassed me. Now she has gone two times beyond what I did. I love it.”
Bubba Rae Chavez said the moment of celebration she shared with her dad was uniquely special.
“He's been there for me throughout my whole life, and I wanted to give him a big ol' bear hug,” she said.
SoCal's win completed an impressive turnaround in the best-of-3 championship round. NoCal claimed the opener, 4-2, but Southern California earned a 2-0 win Tuesday night to force Game 3.
Chavez and Martinez paced the champions at the plate Wednesday, each collecting three hits and an RBI. Leadoff hitter Melissa Bond led Northern California with two doubles, a single and two RBIs.
SoCal 120 101 0 - 5 16 1
NoCal 020 010 0 - 3 11 1
Celeste Martinez and Bubba Rae Chavez. Savannah Guevara and Briana Hardesty. W - Martinez. L - Guevara.
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