San Diego CA: The Gorillas have a deal in place to bring Tony Mejia back to travel baseball.  The 33-year-old who had retired at the end of the 2010 season met with GM Mike Martinez and 10U Coach Rudy Mercado late Saturday evening. 

The team confirmed a deal was done to The Associated Press, but terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed. 

Mejia has continued to be around the organization since his retirement on a consulting basis, helping Coach Mercado and the 10U Gorillas ball club.  Rumor had it that GM Mike Martinez had been hard at work coming up with a plan to offer just enough to entice Mejia to come out of retirement. The crafty GM knew the organization could use the help and they needed someone they could trust.

After retiring, Mejia followed his other passion of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and began training at one of San Diego’s Elite MMA Gyms, The Arena.  Currently he trains daily at The Arena and he plans to balance his daily MMA regime with assisting the 10U ball club. He feels he will be able to bring a new dynamic to coaching through his experience of training with elite athletes and coaches.

IMPERIAL BEACH — Time and time again, players and coaches agreed – the team was on a mission to win a District 42 championship in the 9-10 year old baseball division. Not only for themselves, but for The Gorillas. That mission came up short by a couple of runs in a heartbreaking 8-5, six-inning loss to Eastlake Little League. 

“I am so proud of this team. I would take them anywhere and put them against any team,” Coach Rudy Mercado told reporters after the championship game. “It’s tough to lose this game. We felt like we could win it. You can’t give runs to good teams like that, and we did. We gave them two or three runs, and it cost us in the end.”

SWVLL notched their first three runs in the top of the first when Moses Mercado drove a 3-run home run to dead center. 

After the first inning the team seemed to take its foot off the gas and put the car on cruise control, which ended up being a costly mistake.  Confident his team would learn from the miscues. “There were some easy plays that we didn’t make,” Coach Mercado said of the fielding miscues that let Eastlake back into the game. “We didn’t keep the ball in front of us. These are kids, they’re athletes, but they made a couple of mistakes. They’ll learn from it.”

Mgr. Dennis Hay said of the team, “they are a quality team, no question. They are wellcoached. They were the best team SWVLL played in the tournament. As a coach, you worry about them getting the momentum (late in the game). It was a great game by two very good teams. Those are fun games right there. Fun games for the fans, fun games for the coaches and the players. I can hold my head high for these kids, they did a great job. Our kids never give up.”

To get to the finals, the 9-10′s from Sweetwater Valley Little League put on their hitting hats against Four different teams and belted 11 home runs in the process. 

IMPERIAL BEACH, CA: The Sweetwater Valley 9 & 10 All-Star team offense has broken out in a big way this past week, plating a total of ten homeruns. “It definitely feels good to swing the bats well,” SWVLL All-Star Moses Mercado said. Mercado has hit four of the ten homeruns for SWVLL and he deposited two, 2-run homeruns into centerfield in todays District 42 semi-final against ParkView Little League.

Most of all, this game was a fun reminder of how quickly feelings can change in baseball. When this series started last Saturday afternoon, most anyone associated with Sweetwater Valley 9-10 All-Star team were feeling down about the dreadful series opener against Eastlake Little League, and the 8-2 loss which now feels like a distant memory. Now SWVLL has rattled off four straight wins and sent four different teams on to an early summer vacation, scoring 12, 12, 7, and 13 runs along the way, and the team looks a lot better than they did last Saturday morning.

“I think our guys have been practicing a lot of patience at the plate,” SWVLL All-Star Jack Hay said. “I think that’s really made a big difference and really sort of brought out what our lineup is capable of doing, especially today. You saw the result of that.” Hay has recorded two homeruns himself this last week.

Despite a lively and somewhat hostile crowd at Imperial Beach Little League, SWVLL offense exploded from the get go putting up a four spot in the first inning off a grandslam homerun which set the tone for the game. SWVLL moves two victories away from their District 42 9&10 year old Championship.

“We feel like our at-bats are getting better everyday,” SWVLL All-Star Jordan Thompson said. “We’re making the pitchers throw strikes. When we do that with our ballclub, we’re capable of doing some good things.” Thompson came in and shut the door in the bottom of the six recording the first 2-outs of the inning on as many pitches and getting the last out with a strikeout, sending his ballclub onto face Eastlake LL in the Championship game tomorrow at 6:30pm at Imperial Beach LL.

In the end, the SWVLL bats had provided plenty of cushion, a big reason they left today standing halfway to a District 42 Championship.

Gorillas Baseball Club General Manager and Staff:

It is with great sadness that I announce my resignation from the Gorillas Baseball Club, effective January 1, 2011.

I have never considered nor imagined a future outside the walls of the Gorillas Baseball Organization. However, sometimes life takes an unexpected turn and while it is one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made, it is time for me to move on.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Mike Martinez the General Manager for the incredible education working with him has provided and for giving me the opportunity to play a role in building the Gorillas Baseball Club into the travel baseball powerhouse that it is today. I am extremely proud to have been in this business, and I am grateful for everyday I was able to work alongside not only my own family, but the entire Gorillas Baseball family.

Thank you to all of the Gorillas Baseball players, both past and present for your passion, pride and dedication. You are truly the engine of the organization and it has been a pleasure to work with, learn from and get to know all of you. Thank you for the privilege of sharing the baseball diamond with you and for allowing me to become but a momentary member of your elite brotherhood. I have so much appreciation for the many sacrifices you endure both physically and personally, to make this organization the success that it is. The respect I have for each of you is immeasurable.

Finally, there are no words to express my gratitude to the Gorillas Staff, families and the fans for supporting this organization through good times and bad and for your unbridled passion that fuels the kids’ performances. I am profoundly grateful to have been able to help on the field of play and from behind the scenes. You are the greatest staff and fans in the world.

I will always love this organization and will remain a fan forever.
Thank you,
Coach Tony
Gorillas Baseball Club

They say Winners never quit and Quitters never win, you know, I see that happen on a daily basis and can’t believe (Read on …)

Report
James Lesperance is a 2013 OF/RHP with a 5-8 148 lb. frame from Chula Vista, CA who attends East Lake. Young frame, thin lean build, short arm action, some arm strength, shorter stride, can get more extension, toe tap trigger, slight uppercut, pulls off some, balanced swing, rotational swing, solid contact, has some hitting tools, H 3/4 arm slot, uphill, 12/6 CB, sharp CB, outstanding student. PG Grade: 7.0

Gorillas 14u has obtained a guaranteed spot in the 2010 USA Baseball 14U Championships to be held June 18 – June 23 in Peoria, Surprise, and Glendale, AZ.

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – I guess April fools came a few days early because what appeared to be a ball club getting beat down changed in the 4th and 5th innings and out came the sluggers!

On a hot afternoon the Gorillas 8th grade team were down 13-1 before mounting a comeback in the 4th and 5th innings to defeat the North County Longhorns baseball team 15-13 Sunday at Damato Field.

The Gorillas made its impressive comeback by scoring 10 times in the top of the fourth and another 4 runs in the top of the fifth.

Gorillas Head Coach, Mike Martinez was quoted as saying in the bottom of the 3rd inning; ”guys, do we want to quit now or do we want to fight?” The team responded, “coach we want to fight.”

“I think it woke our offense up a little bit, to hear coach Mike say that to the guys” Coach Tony said after the Gorillas rallied for a 10 spot in the 4th inning. “We’re not going to panic by any means just because we’re down in any game. It was an absolute grind today, that’s for sure, I can’t remember winning a game where we’ve struggled like we did this afternoon. So it’s very gratifying.”

The Gorillas 8th grade team continues to display why its one of the most feared teams in the 8th grade division. OK, sorry. This was no Stanley Cup. But it was a stunning moment, a fittingly Hollywood style shocker to decide a remarkable baseball game and these boys do it every weekend. If you get a chance make it out to watch one of their games, I promise you wont be disappointed.

Facebook is a social network, not a shopping network, so why should we spend resources establishing and maintaining a Fan Page on Facebook? (A Fan Page, by the way, is a profile for an organization rather than for an individual.) Because even if members have no intention of buying anything on Facebook, the relationships we can establish and community that we’ll build there can benefit the Gorillas in countless ways.

Andrew Brown

Andrew Brown 2013
SS RHP/IF R/R 6-2 165
HS: The Rock Academy
Hometown: Chula Vista, CA
Summer Team: Gorillas
Fall Team: Gorillas
OF: IF: 76 1B: C: Pop Time:
Fast Ball Velocity: 81
60 yd: 7.41 40 yd: Track Conditions:
PG Rating: 7.5

PG Report:
Andrew Brown is a 2013 SS/RHP/IF with a 6’2”, 165 lb. frame from Chula Vista, CA who attends The Rock Academy. Lean athletic build, plenty of time to fill out and add strength, line-drive hitting approach, short simple swing, consistent solid contact, extension out front, hitting tools project more with added strength, solid MIF tools, feet work, good to the ball, athletic actions, short compact arm action on the mound, good armside run on fastball, quick arm, works quick, stays in the zone well, good straight change-up, fills up the strike zone, strong student.