OAKLAND — Rudy Lopez knew in the moment that his 2013 Belmont Redwood Shores Little League team, a squad he had coached for several years, was special, even if it fell just short of Williamsport. A decade and change following a run that electrified the region, Lopez gained additional perspective on what the team had accomplished.
“I guess it’s another feather in our cap that it took a future major leaguer to beat us,” Lopez said.
The future major leaguer in question is Grant Holman, who made his big-league debut for the A’s this past weekend during the final Bay Bridge Series. Before Holman was a 6-foot-6, 24-year-old, hard-throwing right-hander representing one of the Bay Area’s teams, he was a 6-foot-3,13-year-old, hard-throwing right-hander who denied the Bay Area a shot at history.
On Aug. 10, 2013, Belmont Redwood Shores, representing Northern California, and Eastlake of Chula Vista, representing Southern California, met at the West Regional championship in San Bernardino with a trip to Williamsport on the line. Belmont Redwood Shores had been nothing short of dominant, entering its bout against Eastlake with a 21-1 overall record and 4-0 record in pool play. Days prior, they defeated Eastlake 3-2.
Belmont Redwood Shores was defined by its pitching. Nicolas Lopez, Rudy’s son, pitched a no-hitter against Santa Cruz in the divisional tournament, as well as a one-hitter versus Hawaii in the West Regional. Sean Lee, who got the starting nod, totaled 19 strikeouts in eight innings during tournament play.
Then, they ran into Holman, who tossed a two-hit shutout as Eastlake defeated Belmont Redwood Shores, 9-0. Eastlake was going dancing; Belmont Redwood Shores’ run was done, leaving a 2002 Aptos team as the most recent Bay Area group to reach the LLWS (though a 2012 team from Petaluma also represented NorCal).
Despite falling short of Williamsport, the community celebrated the team with a parade for their efforts upon returning home.
“He was intimidating,” Lopez said. “Our team was pretty intimidating, ourselves, but facing up against him, he was really the only kid in our whole run that I can honestly say was intimidating to our kids. … He was definitely four or five inches taller than anybody on our team, and we had some big boys too.”
Added Holman: “Winning that game was awesome, having the realization that you’re going to Williamsport.”
Holman’s performance against Belmont Redwood Shores was a precursor of what was to come. Several days later, Holman struck out 13 batters in a seven-inning no-hitter against Michigan, the first extra-inning no-hitter in the Little League World Series since 1979. Holman got the start in the World Championship against Japan, but Eastlake would fall in the title game, 6-4.
August 16, 2013: Grant Holman became the first pitcher since 1979 to throw an extra-inning no-hitter in the Little League World Series for East Lake Little League!
August 17, 2024: Grant Holman gets called up to The Big Leagues! #PlayersWeekend pic.twitter.com/T3EcTxSccJ
— Oakland A’s (@Athletics) August 17, 2024
“It was really cool to be able to experience that with childhood friends, guys who are still my best friends to this day. It’s something we can look back on and know that we achieved one of our dreams at 12, 13 years old. It’s just an unbelievable experience to get to do that, get to play on that stage and experience that with all of my friends.”
Following his run with Eastlake, Holman played at Cal before being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB Draft. In his major-league debut on Saturday, Holman stranded runners on first and third in front of an announced attendance of 37,551. Holman might be the only major leaguer from that NorCal/SoCal showdown, but he wouldn’t be the only player with a future in baseball.
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Nicolas Lopez would pitch at Stanford for several seasons, intersecting with Holman at the collegiate level. Brad Shimabuku hit .348 over four full seasons with Chapman University, winning a Division III national championship in 2019. Noah Marcello currently plays for the Boise Hawks of the independent Pioneer League, hitting .290/.389/.424 with five home runs and 22 steals. Ryan Anderson played for City College of San Francisco and Menlo College.
“It was an experience that I don’t think the kids will ever forget or the families will ever forget. It was something that had never been done from our area here in the peninsula in all the years of the league. … To make it so close to the Little League World Series was still an amazing accomplishment.”
