The boys of summer are back

The boys of summer are back. Bergy, JJ, CJ, CC, Gabby, Gilly, Gibby, Willie, Lo and Jake are back playing All-Star baseball for the El Dorado Hills Major All-Stars. Last year, this group, along with two others, won the District 54, Section 4 and Nor-Cal state championship at the 10-11-year old level and they're back this year a year older playing at the Major level and are hoping to do the same thing and more. The boys' real names are George Bergamo, JJ Filippini, CJ Ard, Colton Cagle, Matt Gabbard, Brady Gill, Cole Gibbons, Wilson Carter, Logan Reichard and Jake Trier. They are joined this year by two newcomers, Fhalem Keegan and Gabe Lancaster. The El Dorado Hills Major All-Stars opened the District 54 Major All-Star tournament Saturday on their home field at Deputy Jeff Mitchell Park with a convincing 15-0 win over Folsom National. The team's second game is at 5 p.m. on Friday. The team certainly doesn't expect all games to be three-inning games shortened by the mercy rule, but it might not be surprising if it happens. This team is deep, but they know it's baseball and anything can happen. "I'm not having to do a whole lot of convincing them to take it one game at a time," EDH Manager Jason Reichard said. "They seem to be really in it and into it. These guys seem so happy to be out here, I almost wonder if they have more fun in practice than they do in the games. They're really having a good time. They know they want to be around playing baseball for a couple of months and they're parents know it too." The 15-0 win over Folsom National couldn't have worked out better, as their additions to this year's team had the biggest hits of the game. Lancaster led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run to put El Dorado Hills in front 5-0 and later in the inning, Keegan hit a three-run home run to make the score 11-0. "I'm happy for the two new guys," Reichard said. "There has been a lot of pressure on them over the last month to perform. They know they're stepping into an environment of an already established team and they're asked to be really competitive and they stepped up today." El Dorado Hills had plenty of other offense. Reichard doubled and knocked in a run; Bergamo singled and drove in three runs, Trier singled in a run, Gabbard and Gill knocked in runs, and Carter added a pair of hits. "Everyone did great," Reichard said. "We've got the same cast of characters. On the mound, George and Cole were good as usual. We had 12 hitters in the lineup and everyone did their part. It was a team offensive output and we had lots of traffic on the bases."