News and Announcements

The 2014 HOOTS Connie Mack team added their own legacy to the programs history winning the North State Connie Mack Championship, going undefeated, winning two games on the final day to capture the title.   This was Back to Back Championships for the HOOTS and Coach Johns as they completed the tournament undefeated with a record of 5-0.  The HOOTS defeated the Head First Gamers in the earyl game 9-1.  Will Pickett pitched a complete game for the HOOTS to get the win.  Catcher Tim Susnara had a 2 run home run early in the game and the offense was led by Chris Williams, Matt Winnaker and Nick Moroney.  The always tough Sonoma County Rebels defeated EJ Warriors in the early game 6-3 to earn the tournament spot for the Championship.   

The HOOTS took an early 1-0 lead, then fell behind 2-1 thru the 3rd inning.  Three year HOOTS players Tim Susnara, drafted as a catcher for the SF Giants pitched a complete game for the HOOTS. The offense worked thru some difficult innings but gained the lead in the 5th inning on key hits by Brad Pluschell, Steve Nice and Nick Moroney. 

Manager Don Johns, "Sports and a legacy are measured by results. The Connie Mack Premier teams were all in the final 4 so good teams always make it to the end.  I told our HOOTS players this is their time, for them to achieve this for themselves will leave a great memory for them, myself, Coach Dan Ward and Coach Henry Cruz who have worked so hard to get our players to respond and improve how they play.  Very, very proud or our guys.  Tim Susnara has been with me for 3 years. This was his day and he led us as expected as a great leader.  I hope our young players paid attention!!!"

The HOOTS Begin play on Tuesday at the Connie Mack West Regional Championship in Southern California at 1:30PM at Golden West College.  8 Teams represent the Western United States.  The past 4 years the only two teams to advance to the World Series are the HOOTS and the Southern California Renegades.  The battle for the World Series will continue!

The HOOTS Connie Mack team won its 3rd game on Saturday July 19 at the North State Connie Mack Championship at Chabot College.  The HOOTS defeated EJ Sports Warriors 9-1.  The Northern California Championship now has 4 teams remaining to earn their way to the Western Regional in Southern California beginning on July 22. The regional championship will advance to the Connie Mack World Series in Farmington, New Mexico.

Kyle Graham pitched a complete game for the HOOTS to get the win.  Behind an offensive surge in the 3rd inning, Graham mixed his fast ball and off speed to control the Warriors offense who took an early 1-0 lead in the game in the 1st inning.  Steve Nice, Nick Moroney and Chris Williams led the HOOTS offense. 

Earlier in the tournament the HOOTS defeated Union City Connie Mack and Santa Rosa Connie Mack who remains alive in the tournament with one loss. 

The tournament continues on Sunday July 20.  The first game begins at 11:00AM.  The HOOTS will play at 1:00PM.  The Championship game or final 2 game would be played at 4:00PM.  The HOOTS remain the only undefeated team remaining

Chris Williams, from the HOOTS Connie Mack Premier league team was selected to the All Tournament Team at the Josh Anderson Tournament held at the University of Nevada, Reno.  Williams, is a First Team All League EBAL First Baseball from DeLaSalle High School. Chris led the HOOTS to a 4th place finish in the 12 team tournament losing 3-2 to the Reno Knights in the semi final game on a walk off double in the bottom of the seventh inning.   Chris was one of the tournament leaders in doubles, and RBI's and hit over .400 for the tournament.

THE HOOTS CONNIE MACK TEAM WAS DEFEATED IN THE SEMI FINAL GAME AT THE NIT AND FINISHED IN 4TH PLACE.

HOOTS Win 3-0 and Remain Undefeated With 5-0 Record.  Adance to Northern California NIT Championship.

Two undefeated 4-0 teams, Trosky Peninsula and HOOTS Connie Mack, played to determine the opportunity to compete for the Northern California NIT Championship. Pitcher Kyle Graham took the mound for the HOOTS as they continued to pitch well, play solid defense and score runs in the tournament.  Graham was relieved by Monte Vista Junior Daniel Wilson who relieved Graham in the 5th inning.  Wilson continued to compete again in competitive game situations with positive results for the second time in the tournament. 

The HOOTS defeated Trosky 3-0 and will advance to the Championship round on Monday.  They finished their 5th game undefeated, not allowing a single run in the entire tournament and will receive the #1 Seed.  Led by San Ramon Valley second baseball Ryan Weisenberg who drove in the go ahead runs, "all we can control is trying to get better everyday as a player and as a team." 

Day 3. 

The HOOTS Connie Mack Premier League Team continues on a winning streak at the NorCal NIT and remains undefeated in the tournament with an overall record of 4-0 thru Saturday June 21.  The HOOTS defeated CenCal 14-0 late Friday night and returned to St. Mary's on Saturday to take a 9-0 win against Stockton Rams. Jacob Knight pitched for the HOOTS in the Friday night game against Cen Cal and on Saturday John Hooper took the mound for the HOOTS.  The HOOTS Connie Mack team has played four games where the pitching and defense did not give up a single run.  As the administrator for the HOOTS for many years I asked Coach Don Johns on how the team was progressing and we thought we would share his comments. 

" We felt we would be very solid on defense, which our players have done as expected.  We also know that pitching is a weakness for us given the loss of many returning players from our 2013 Connie Mack State Championship team not returning for various reasons related to their future college commitments.  Our young pitchers are developing, and we feel very good where we are at this early point on our defense and offense.  The tough games are in front of us and all we can do is prepare for what lies ahead!"

The HOOTS return to final day of action in pool play on Sunday at 9:30AM. 

The HOOTS Connie Mack Premier League Team entered their first tournament competition of the 2014 season at the NorCal NIT held at Delta College in Stockton with a 5-0 shut out against NorCal Premier Connie Mack and a 14-0 win against Kali Navy. HOOTS pitcher Sean Jenkins had a solid performance in the first game against NorCal leaving in the 7th inning. Daniel Wilson finished the game in a dificult situation with the bases loaded against the always strong NorCal team. Wilson was able to get a strike out and a ground ball double play to end the game. The HOOTS offense was led by Ryan Ruley, Chris Williams, Matt Winnaker and Steven Nice.

HOOTS pitchers Cameron Schneider and Will Pickett combined on the mound for the second shut out of the day against Kali Navy. Play resumes on Friday at 5:30PM at St. Mary's High School in Stockton.

  • The HOOTS Connie Mack Premier League Season started with a double header against Santa Rosa Connie Mack on Sunday 8. The HOOTS swept the Rebels with a 4-3 walk off win in Game 1 and won 6-0 in the 2nd game.
  • The HOOTS were well represented for post season honors in the All-EBAL 2014 team.

    First team Ryan Anderson-Foothill, Chris Williams-DLS, Andrew Schatz-DLS. Second team selections were Ryan Weisenberg-SRV, Austin Piscotty-Amador, Steven Nice-Amador. Honorable Mention was awarded to Nick Moroney-SRV, Jake Macintosh-Amador, and Bradley Pluschkell-Amador. Ryan Anderson was a Finalist for the 2014 Bay Area Baseball Player of the Year. Max Preps ranked the EBAL as the #9 most difficult high school program in the nation.

  • The NCS Division One Championship game featured the top two EBAL teams, DeLa Salle and San Ramon Valley. DLS won the game held at St. Mary's College 6-2.
  • Junior Connie Mack player Blake Hannah finishis his junior season at 1st Team All League pitcher. His Vacaville team won the League Championship. In addition to the All League honors, Blake was selected as 2014 Pitcher of the Year and also Scholar Athlete Award.
  • Senior UCSB outfielder and former HOOTS Connie Mack players Joey Epperson on the final list for the 2014 Golden Spikes Collegiate Player of the Year. Epperson finished the Gaucho season with a .376 batting average, .483 OBP and .508 slugging over 197 at bats. He played 3 positions, 3B, OF and 1B.
  • The HOOTS won the Ninth Annual "STRIKE OUT LOU GEHRIG DISEASE" Natural Balance Cup 18U State Championship held at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California.  After losing their first game 2-0, they won 4 games in a row to bring the Championship back to Northern California.  Both final games were won as walk off victories for the Northern Calfornia team.  The HOOTS defeated the Playa Vista Orioles 3-2 in the semi final game with a game winning bottom of the 7th inning single from Marcus Wise to score Blake Hannah with the winning run.  Alex Trautner and Tyler Deason combined on the mound for the HOOTS.

    The Championship game between the HOOTS and the SoCal Bombers was won by the HOOTS 3-2 in extra innings.  With the score tied 2-2, and the HOOTS the home team with 2 outs, Wise stole second base and scored the winning run on a single by TJ Friedl. Four HOOTS pitchers combined for the win.  Spencer Johnson threw the final inning to keep the score tied 2-2. 

    "Our guys here were outstanding, as a mix of a few of our seniors leading the way and our underclass players taking the future into their hands.  We did something for someone else in terms of raising money to help fight Lou Gehrig Disease for the ALS Foundation. One of our players lost his grandfather to the disease last year so it hits close to home. And, we proved to everyone how good a team we are winning the Connie Mack North State Championship and coming here and winning the Natural Balance Cup and State title. I am very proud of these players, they will be remembered for what they gave and what they accomplished." Manager Don Johns at the closing ceremony.

    The HOOTS Connie Mack team qualified for the West Regional Tournament in Seattle, Washington but choose not to attend because of extensive travel cost due to the North State Championship not ending until late Sunday night.  The West Regional began on Wednesday with no time to plan.  The team will head south to Southern California to participate in the "Strike Out Lou Gehrig's Disease" tournament starting on Friday July 25 at Cal Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks.  The tournament features some of elite 18U teams in California and they will be playing for the right to claim the State Championship.  The tournament started in 2005 and this year will be the first year to include 18U elite teams.

     The tournament is hosted by Ventura County baseball organizations, Natural Balance, and the ALS foundation.  "Everyone can help Strike Out Lou Gehrig Disease."  The web site can be found at www.leaguelineup.com/alsbaseball//

    The HOOTS Connie Mack team won the 2013 Connie Mack North State Championship on Sunday July 21 at Chabot College.  The HOOTS had to defeat the undefeated EJ Warriors twice since they had lost earlier in the tournament to the Solano Falcons.  Jake Dronkers threw in the first game and the HOOTS offense was explosive starting in the first inning scoring 3 runs and continued throughout the game which was ended by the run rule in the fifth inning.  Dylan Isquirdo and Daniel Jackson led the offense with multiple extra base hits.  The defense led by shortstop and Captain Jesse Medrano was solid without errors or mistakes.

    The final game for the Championship and the West Regional berth was played following Game 1.  HOOTS junior pitcher Alex Trautner threw a complete game and the HOOTS went on to win the game 3-0.  Trautner earlier this summer faced the SoCal Renegades in a game won by the HOOTS 5-4 and that experience proved helpful with the championship on the line.  Bradley Pluschkell broke the game open with a base clearing double in the fourth inning to give the HOOTS the extra run  lead. Manager Don Johns commented, "Very proud of this team for what they accomplished.  This is never easy, and we lost some guys to injuries but we found our way when it counted.  Our program does not take the easy route, and all the teams in the tournament were very good, and I have great respect for those teams.  We are pleased with the outcome. We had a great HOOTS day!" 

    The HOOTS advanced to the Championship round on Sunday after defeating the Sonoma County Rebels 12-1.  After a 7-5 loss on Saturday to the Solano Falcons the HOOTS bounced back behind solid pitching from Spencer Johnson.  The first game on Sunday will begin at 11:00AM.  As of this late update the final remaining teams will not be determined until late Saturday afternoon. "We have not played our best game yet, nor have we played a complete game in all three phases.Hopefully that is ahead of us.  Nothing is easy at this point of our season".  HOOTS Manager Don Johns.

    The North State Connie Mack Championship started on Thursday July 18 at Chabot Collge.  Six teams have qualified for the berth to the Connie Mack West Regional Tournament to be held in Seattle.

    The HOOTS defeated the Union City Connie Mack team 6-1 on the opening day to advance to the Round 2.  AJ Puckett threw a complete game for the HOOTS.  Outfielder TJ Friedl led the HOOTS offense with a no out triple in the 4th inning to get the HOOTS first score of the game.

    The HOOTS play on Friday at 5:00PM. The tournament will conclude on Sunday July 22.