Rocklin Solid. Rocklin Little League Stars Breakthrough

The 12-year olds of the Rocklin Little League Major All-Stars look for a breakthrough

The Rocklin Little League All-Stars have plenty of postseason experience and victories at district, section and state tournaments.

Manager Mike Delucchi’s boys know what it’s like to face the top competition in the area. And the region. And state— from three years of all-stars play with a fairly consistent roster of local talent.

When the group faced an 8-0 deficit in the second inning of its Section 4 Tournament opener against a strong Maidu team, the feeling was not as familiar. Fortunately for Delucchi and company, quitting is also a completely foreign concept.

“This team has been together for three years and played a lot of baseball together,” Delucchi said. “We coaches always tell them that a team that never quits is a hard team to beat, and everyone kept their nerves and knew what they had to do.”

The result of calm 12-year-olds was a steady comeback culminating in a 9-8 victory. The first of three one-run wins that yielded a Section 4 championship and a berth in the Division II NorCal State Tournament. The next step after the state tourney will be the West Regionals in San Bernardino where a ticket to the Little League World Series in Williamsport will be on the line.

Key to the comeback and the section tournament was the bat of Nathan Triebess. After leading the league in home runs during the regular season, the left-handed slugger struggled in the District 11 All-Star Tournament before breaking out . This in the same park where his father, Damon, made his Little League mark. Nathan Triebess crushed a three-run blast in the win over Maidu and added a pair of homers against Carmichael in a 6-5 win that earned Rocklin a spot in the section final.

“He struggled and had no home runs in the district tournament, but he was dialed in after the start to the section tournament,” Delucchi said. “And he did it in Rio Linda where his Dad was a star hitter years ago.”

In the section final against Carmichael, (which emerged from the loser’s bracket to get another shot at Rocklin), pitching and defense kept the Rocklin team in another close game. Matthew Delucchi delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh inning.

Andrew Woodward started on the mound and Ayden Popp closed out the game. Second baseman JR Freethy turned in a stellar performance in the field. And he provided his usual spark at the top of the batting order to set up the extra-inning victory.

Now, the Rocklin All-Stars travel to Stockton for the Northern California tournament. They will try to go farther than they have ever gone before. As 10-year-olds, the team made it to the state tournament and won, but there was no regional level to advance to. Last year, the group lost to a Fresno team in the Division II semifinals.

“There is no celebration yet because we have won district and section before,” Delucchi said of his team. “The kids are excited. But they know there is work to be done that keeps the thought of San Bernardino and beyond in the back of their minds.

“To be able to get this far and have a shot to go farther is cool, but the kids know that it is a long road that won’t be easy.”

But a road that this battle-tested and experienced group has traveled before.