Los Banos, Pacheco come together for Merced County All-Star Game

Since Pacheco High School opened its doors in the fall of 2010, the city of Los Banos has endured a quiet tension.

It’s nothing most towns haven’t gone through with the opening of a second school, but unlike most of those situations, the initial bad blood hasn’t dissipated much with time.

While it’s not a Hatfield-McCoy-level feud, there have been some coaching staff flare-ups on the playing fields over the years. It’s something Los Banos Tigers baseball coach Pat Fuentes hopes to bring to an end. So, when the Los Banos coach was offered the opportunity to coach the North team in the 2016 Merced County All-Star Game, one of the first calls he made was to Pacheco skipper Chauncey Lee.

“Chauncey is my old college teammate and he helped out for a year at Los Banos before he took over at Pacheco,” Fuentes said. “I know there’s some tension between the coaching staffs of the two schools, and I wanted to show it’s not like that, for baseball at least.

“It’s a great chance for the two schools to work together and just have a good time.”

Fuentes and company will lead a North team trying to keep its momentum going on the heels of an 8-4 victory last year. The North holds a 4-2 series lead. The seventh installment of the game will take place Saturday night at Merced College’s Blue Devil Field. The first pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.

“The cool thing is I played in the county All-Star Game in 1995,” Fuentes said. “If you’d have asked me then if I’d be coaching it 21 years later, I’d have laughed at you.

“It’s particularly special for me because I get to coach our seniors one last time. They’re one of the best groups I’ve ever had, and it would be nice to send them out with a victory.”

Fuentes has five of his Tigers on the North roster, tied with Buhach Colony for the most on the team. The North will also be represented by players from Hilmar, Atwater, Livingston, Gustine, Pacheco and Delhi.

Some of the North’s top players include Hilmar’s Jarrod Willis (.486 average, 22 RBIs), Livingston’s Eddie Avila (.446, 28 runs), BC’s Nick Singer (.359), Gustine’s Brandon LaBry (.390, 22 RBIs) and LB’s Trent Mallonee and James Bostick.

The North pitching staff will be led by Singer, LB’s Kody Cardoza, Livingston’s Blake Jantz and Gustine’s Oliver Perez.

The South is every bit as loaded, led by six players from El Capitan’s section runner-up squad and three from Mariposa’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI championship team. Le Grand’s Joel Salcido will coach the team, which has representatives from Dos Palos, Merced, Golden Valley, Le Grand, Sonora and Stone Ridge Christian.

Some of the South stars include Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year Braiden Ward (El Capitan, .457, 43 runs, 23 steals), Southern League Offensive Player of the Year Jake Williams (Mariposa, .526, five home runs, 22 RBIs), Merced’s Josh May (.452, 29 runs, 16 steals), and Dos Palos’ Gabriel Galindo (.543, 26 RBIs).

The South has a bevy of arms to choose from as well, led by Western Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year Sai Davuluri (EC), Williams, Merced’s Trevor Phillips and EC’s Chase Whitaker.

“Coaching in something like this, you just try to stay out of the way,” Fuentes said. “These are all-league guys, so they know their business. You just have to try and get them pumped up a little bit and then basically supervise.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

This story was originally published June 9, 2016 at 5:14 PM with the headline "Los Banos, Pacheco come together for Merced County All-Star Game."