Pinto team proves worthy

Last weekend the Simi Youth Baseball Pinto AllStar team, featuring kids ages 7 and 8, saw a great postseason run come to an end when it lost in the sectional championship game to Chino Hills, 5-2, in Pinole, Calif.

Before the loss, the squad had won 17 consecutive games.

"It was a great experience for the kids to go as far as they did," head coach Richard Bilchik said. "They played awesome all year long, but in the last game the planets were aligned in a weird way or something, because we played the complete opposite way we've played all year."

In addition to Bilchik, the team was coached by Mike Dubreuil, Kip Hyman and Danny Gonzalez Sr.

Players included Jake Balough, Kyle Bilchik, Michael Douglass, Parker Dubreuil, Christian Fisher, Tyrese Gholar, Danny Gonzalez Jr., Gunner Hellstrom, Jason Hyman, Brian Jansen, Mitch Kalkwarf and Nick Malinowski.