MIDLAND — Galveston West Isle coach Ryan Orewiler kept telling Ario Holmen he would have a chance at redemption.
Holmen got it and delivered at the most opportune of times.
Putting behind him three straight strikeouts, Holmen strolled to the plate with two men on and West Isle down 6-4 to Lafayette in the final inning of the Southwest Regional Junior League Baseball Tournament quarterfinals. After taking the first pitch, Holmen crushed the next one off the left-field wall to tie the contest.
Two batters later and with two outs, Josh Del Bosque got his third hit of the night — a single to right field — to send Holmen home and West Isle into the semifinals, 7-6, in dramatic, walk-off fashion.
“These kids are unbelievable,” Orewiler said. “They don’t think they can lose. Going into the final inning, I was thinking we need two runs to tie. They were talking about getting three to win.”
Holmen struggled all night at the plate until he almost smacked one out of the ballpark. He drove home winning pitcher Nick Orewiler and Jose Perales, who had three hits and an RBI.
“Ario was really down, but I just kept telling him he’ll get a chance,” Ryan Orewiler said. “And he nearly won the game for us.”
While Nick Orewiler got the victory, Jerrett Fabian, affectionately known a Jer-Bear, came up huge with meaningful innings to give Galveston a chance to win. Fabian entered the game in the third inning and tossed three frames without surrendering an earned run.
Coach handed Fabian the game ball afterward, saying without his effort, Holmen and Del Bosque’s heroics would never have happened.
“He was the key to the game,” Ryan Orewiler said. “There are strict pitch restrictions in Little League, which really makes things difficult. If Jer-Bear doesn’t come in and eat innings and give us a chance to win, we’re really stuck tomorrow because we have to play two games. I think we’re out of the tournament.”
Nick Orewiler returned in the sixth with two outs and struck out a batter with the bases loaded to preserve the 6-4 deficit and set up the heroics.
The walk-off was West Isle’s second of the postseason. The group of 13- and 14-year olds rallied from three runs down to beat Sinton in the final inning of the East Texas State Championship game in Tyler.
Galveston is now 11-0 in postseason play. They have not suffered a loss since the District 14 Tournament.
“They certainly make it interesting,” Ryan Orewiler said. “But it’s fun.”
West Isle continues the double-elimination tournament today at 4 p.m. The championship is set for Tuesday at 10 a.m. with a second game, if necessary, 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first. The winner goes to the Junior Baseball League World Series in Taylor, Mich., set to begin Aug. 16.
No Galveston team has been this far since a 1954 squad went to the Little League World Series.
