Outlawz Taylor Stoklosa slides safely into third. Tom Smedes photo.

SPARKS, NV – A battle between Southern California and Northern California went to the north as the Outlawz defeated De Aquellas for the ASA Men’s E Western National Championship on Aug. 30 at Golden Eagle Regional Park in Sparks, Nev.

The Outlawz cruised undefeated through the 36-team bracket, beating De Aquellas twice in the process, including a 25-13 count in the championship game.

“We came in really confident,” said Outlawz coach and organizer Elvis Uriostegui. “We knew if we stuck together we’d be pretty tough to beat.”

The Outlawz, made up of players from the Yuba City and Redding areas, rolled through the bracket with wins against Bomb Squad, Islanders, Folex, Ear Hustlin and De Aquellas to reach the championship match.

“When we went 3-0 on Saturday we knew we had a great chance to go 6-0,” Uriostegui said. “We had great chemistry. Guys from Redding and Yuba City meshed together and made it happen.”

In the championship game, the Outlawz jumped to the lead with a four-run first inning, but De Aquellas put three runs on the board in the bottom of the second and five more in the third to take an 8-6 lead.

The Outlawz came back with consecutive five-run outbursts in the fourth and fifth innings to go up 16-8 and then led 17-11 before exploding for eight runs in the top of the seventh to put an exclamation point on the victory.

“The key is we just stayed together as a team,” Uriostegui said. “Nobody got down on each other, and everybody hit the ball and played so well defensively.”

De Aquellas finished the weekend with a 5-2 record, with both losses to The Outlawz.

“We were feeling great coming in, but we just came up short,” said Jose Salas of De Aquellas. “Nobody expected us to be here but us. We’ll remember this forever, of course.”

That’s the kind of memories Nevada ASA Commissioner Tony Pehle was hoping the teams would take home from the first ever E national championship tournament, and the first national tournament hosted at Golden Eagle Regional Park, which opened two years ago.

“The level of play has been great, the sportsmanship wonderful,” Pehle said. “It’s gone better than we even expected.”
Pehle said the facility at Golden Eagle Park was met with universal approval. The park features artificial turf fields that can be quickly drained in case of rain or snow and don’t require grading dirt and rechalking lines between games, which means tournaments run much quicker.

“The players enjoy the complex and they all want to come back here,” he said.