The Torrance 15-and-under baseball team rallied but was unable to hold off Greenville, North Carolina, losing 10-7 in the Babe Ruth World Series final Saturday in Stafford, Virginia.

Greenville took the lead for good with a three-run sixth inning, breaking a 7-7 tie. Torrance managed to load the bases in the seventh, but was unable to score.

Torrance’s Slate Nunez had three hits and two RBIs, Kyle Clarke had a double and two RBIs, Anthony Macias had a hit and drove in one run and Joey Villareal had two hits, including a double.

“They enjoyed it,” coach Xavier Narez said of the experience. “We came up a little short in the championship, but they battled. That North Carolina team rolled everybody except for us.”

“It was a great experience, they had the opportunity to play in a minor league field and it was a cool atmosphere to be in. Hopefully, this motivates them to compete, learn from it and not take it for granted.”

Torrance team won the Sportsmanship Award for the tournament.

In Friday’s semifinal, Torrance defeated Bridgewater, NJ, 4-3. Nunez struck out six in five scoreless innings. Macias had a double and two RBIs.

Torrance went 3-1 in American Division play before moving to the semifinals.

Torrance won the Southern California tournament and the West Region tournament to qualify for the World Series.

The team was coached by Xavier Narez, Ralphie Martinez and Harrison Mingham and made up of players from Torrance (Eric Calhoun, Kyle Clarke, Eshua Desai, Anthony Macias, River Martinez, Slater Nunez, Anthony Perez, Luc Tabata, Joey Villareal), South (Hayden Nelson, Cody Pierson, Dane Rhodes) and West (John Guilfoyle, Jacob Narez, Ryu Uchida) high schools.

The players were either from the junior varsity or freshman level.

“We didn’t play for two seasons due to Covid, but all of our teams did well, the 13s and 14s lost in the regionals and we made it through,” Narez said. “Hopefully, this success motivates the community and players.”