A day after the Los Gatos Little League Intermediate (13-and-under) team saw its season come to an end in the NorCal Tournament championship game on July 16 in Marysville, manager Damon Williams was already thinking about running things back again in summer 2027.
“I think we’ll have this core group back for Juniors (14U) next year,” Williams said. “I think all of the boys are excited to come back and give it one more shot. I also believe my assistant coaches and all of the parents would be happy to come back and contribute. I think we’ll have all of them back next year unless something strange happens.”
The Los Gatos roster includes Campbell Dove, Charlie Nielsen, Cruz Barragan, Josh Granum, Logan Williams, Luke Reaugh, Mason Derakhshandeh, Mickey Denevi, Nico Madeiros, Oliver Chang, Tommy Rabitz and Troy Amburgey. Williams leads the team along with assistant coaches Todd Madeiros and Brett Granum.
Los Gatos lost its opening game in NorCals—a double-elimination tournament—to Roseville before reeling off three impressive victories, highlighted by a 10-2 trouncing over the same Roseville team in the semifinals. Logan Williams, the manager’s son, pitched a complete-game, allowing just one earned run while walking none and striking out 13 in a dazzling performance.
Los Gatos qualified to NorCals by virtue of a 5-3 win over Sunnyvale in the Section 5 Tournament championship game on July 7.
“The win against Roseville was 100 percent the highlight of NorCals,” Damon Williams said. “It was satisfying to kind of stick it to them. I don’t think they saw that coming.”
Los Gatos couldn’t complete the storybook ending, losing to a powerhouse Granada/Livermore team 15-1 in the final. Despite the defeat, Williams couldn’t have been more proud of the team. For one, it overcame a rough first game but rebounded decisively, knocking off three opponents en route to the championship round.
Los Gatos played five games in six days where the average daytime high temperature hovered around 105 degrees.
“It’s hot down in San Jose and Los Gatos, but it’s not 105,” Williams said. “And it was fairly humid day in, day out, which made for a grind. One of those days it hit 108 on the field, and they put in a protocol where at any point anyone on the field could call time to get a breather and rehydrate a bit. The tournament organizers did a good job managing that.”
Williams chalked up the team’s opening game loss to a combination of first-game jitters, adjusting to the heat and simply not being in optimal form.
“Our first game losing to Roseville was probably one of our worst games of the year,” he said. “The heat and nerves were a few factors that played into that. It was a rough first day, but the boys buckled in and started to play some really good baseball the rest of the way.”
A year ago at the 12U level, the team was eliminated in the Section 5 Tournament. Two years ago as 11-year-olds, the squad couldn’t get out of District 12. This season, it captured a Section title and made a valiant run to the championship round of NorCals.
“So next year we’ve got to get to (Western) Regionals—anything less is unacceptable,” Williams deadpanned. “Looking back at the progression of this team, it’s a pretty amazing group of boys.”
What accounted for the breakthrough this year?
“We’re now in our third, fourth year playing together, and the team has really developed a chemistry,” Williams said. “They’re all best friends and the longer they’ve stayed together, the more they bond. That longevity is what definitely creates the closeness of the team. They’re gritty and resilient, which always helps, too.”
While Williams rightly praised the performances from his son Logan, he also credited the pitching duo of Chang and Rabitz for providing quality starts.
“Tommy and Oliver were amazing pitchers in their own right,” Williams said. “They aren’t big strikeout, shutdown guys, but they excel with pitch location, pinpoint control and allowing the defense to make plays.”
If it takes a village to raise a child, the same can be said about a Little League baseball team needing an all hands on deck approach to advance far in the postseason. Michelle Nielsen, the LGLL Vice President of Operations, and her husband Dave, who is the director of fields and facilities, have been instrumental to the league’s success along with all of the other LGLL Board members.
“We get big contributions beyond the coaches,” Williams said. “The Nielsens help with the Snackshack, all of the field prep and were incredibly helpful. Dave was a saint this year prepping Fisher Field—which has been known to be a little rough—and turning that into a playable field.”
Williams is already salivating at the possibility of him and the coaching staff being able to work with the players for one more go-around.
“If we can have a full season with these kids and develop a little more, you never know how far we can get next year,” he said. “This season where we probably fell short was our depth of pitching. A lot of that comes with getting these boys reps and working on the mechanics. Most of the boys are playing travel ball so if they can keep on improving into next year as 14-year-olds, you never know what can happen. It’s going to be fun to see how it all plays out.”
Juniors shine as well
It has been a tremendous run of success for the LGLL All Stars, including the 14U Juniors team that won the District 12 championship. The roster includes Beau Shyba, Cameron Von der Ahe, Carter Dunstan, Cayden Endweiss, Chase Hawley, Cooper Green, Grady O’Brien, Jake Lehr, Magnus Bottoms, Mason Lucq, Noah Denevi, and Parker Bertsch. The Manager is Chris Denevi and the assistant coaches are Matt Von der Ahe and Charles Endweiss.
12U win Sectionals
The LGLL 12U All Stars won the Section 5 Tournament in riveting fashion, edging Los Altos 6-5 on July 22. They play their first game of the NorCal Tournament against Section 6 champion Amador East on July 25 in Chico. A full story will appear in next week’s edition of the Los Gatan.
