Good Sports: Tulare baseball team wins Cal Ripken World Series

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- Council meetings are typically about city business, but in Tulare, this week's meeting started with baseball.

"Tulare is backing us and they're recognizing us for a huge accomplishment that these boys and coaches did," says Tulare 9U All-Stars Coach, Chris Briseno.

The local 9U all star team was officially recognized by the city and congressman David Valadao for winning the Cal Ripken World Series in Alabama.

The boys' postseason run almost never even happened.

"We weren't expecting to get invited to the World Series," Briseno said.

Briseno says the boys failed to advance after taking 3rd at the state tournament.

The league commissioner saw something special, giving the team an at-large bid to compete.

"He offered that after the tournament, said we have a good ball club and could compete with the best of him," Briseno said.

Now came the hard part - funding a group of coaches and 12 players to fly across the country.

"We had a month to get all these boys flights, hotels," Briseno said.

With the help of fundraisers and local sponsorships, the boys raised $40,000 to book their way to Alabama.

"Seeing the competition there, I knew they could compete with anybody there," Briseno said.

The boys went 3-1 in pool play, needing a walk-off win in the semifinals to make it to the championship game.

"Definitely the night before, it's hard to sleep," Briseno said.

"We fought our butts off out there," says player Caleb Pedro.

The boys would cap off the run with a decisive 5-1 victory over the Bahamas.

While Tulare's council preps for other matters of city business, the boys' top agenda item is clear: to win the world series in Indiana.

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