Hundreds of patrons at Oggi’s Pizza and Brewing in Otay Ranch showed up Friday afternoon donning their best powder blue and yellow gear , but these fans weren’t cheering the San Diego Chargers in their second preseason game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Instead these fans rallied on the boys from Chula Vista’s Park View Little League in their 5-1 defeat against a team from Iowa, who represented the Midwest region.
Raul Perez is the uncle to shortstop Ali Camarillo and the cousin of head coach Jorge Camarillo.
“It’s surreal. It’s awesome,” Perez said. ““To actually have a family there just makes it all surreal.”
Perez said he spoke to both his cousin and nephew before they left for Williamsport, Pa and he said they were lving a dream.
Even though Park View lost Friday they are not out of the tournament. They play a must-win game Aug. 20.
Perez said win or lose he remains proud of the boys. Perez said South County Little League teams give their region something their professional teams dont: a consistent winning product.
“The San Diego Padres do not give us anything, no championship aspirations,” he said. “Neither do the Chargers, so all we have is a sniff and a chance of any World Championship without Lilttle League in South County.
Sarah Camacho sits on the board of directors for Park View Little League and is in charge of sponsorship. She said it cost about $10,000 for a family to pack up and go to Williamsport. Camacho and her team have been collecting donations to help the families live out their dreams.
She said raising money for families helps live out their dreams.
“It’s good experience and it is something that every little kid that plays Little League dreams about,” she said.” So we want them to not worry about traveling.”
Several fans like Raul Mendoza left Oggi’s disappointed with the loss but said he remains optimistic Park View can bounce back.
“The tournament is not over yet,” he said. “These kids play with tremendous heart and will give it all they have.”
Park View Little League, is the fourth team from South County to make it to Williamsport. In 2009, Park View won the whole tournament, Eastlake made it to the final in 2013, losing to champions Japans and Sweetwater Valley Little League made it to Little League World Series in 2015 but fell short of reaching the finals.
