Editor’s note: Sunnyside Little League first baseman/pitcher Izaiah Moraga, with support from his parents Karla and Ernest, has agreed to write a journal about his experience as he and his teammates (ages 11 and 12) participate in the West Regional tournament at San Bernardino, Calif., and perhaps beyond at the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa.
The first day we got here on Friday, we ate dinner. Since then, we have been eating great breakfasts, lunches and dinners. The first day we went swimming and had the most fun since we got up here. We have been here for 5 days and we played 2 games. The first game we took a loss without a player and a coach, but in our second game, we came out on top, 13-1. Damian Lorta, our third baseman, has hit 2 home runs so far. Before today (8/6/19), we took a hard but really great loss, 6-5, to a great team (Hawaii) in the 8th inning.
Juan Hernandez and Damian Lorta pitched a great game, but we lost because errors killed us. Juan Abril pitched a really good game in our win against Nevada. He pitched less pitches than expected with 46 pitches. We had really great defense and offense to help him with today’s game, but although we won, we still don’t get a break, playing again Wednesday (against Southern California). We really have a great offense. I started our rally with a 3-run home run and our pitcher had really great defense and pitching as well with five innings pitched, one run allowed and catching a line drive straight to him.
Our days are just staying indoors. We will play or do anything possible to have fun because our coaches took our phones away to stay focused on the game. We play 2-base to tag just to have fun because our coaches are positive and strict at the same time so we can have anger and put that towards how we play — to hit the ball harder and improve on what we did wrong.
Since we arrived, I have been excited and nervous all at the same time. When I was up to bat, I had to hide how I felt and play the way I felt comfortable. Hopefully, we can continue our journey and not go back home because we don’t want to throw away our hours of blood, sweat and tears of work that took time away from us and our families. They have been here for us, supporting us and giving time and effort for us to be where we are at now, because we have the potential to do anything and go anywhere if we just put our hearts into it.
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