It’s hard to pick favorites from this summer’s Santa Maria Babe Ruth U15 squad.
Santa Maria won a state championship and fell one game short of qualifying for the National Babe Ruth World Series on July 27. Along the way, they proved to be a true team by getting key contributions from multiple players.
But when pressed by the Sun for a team MVP, Santa Maria coach Eddie Garcia relented.
“Blake Truhitte hit the ball well, played great defense, and had a great tournament,” Garcia said. “If we had to pick an MVP, it would be him.”
So Truhitte it is, although he echoed his coach’s sentiment about the essence of the team, which is, well, teamwork.
“We’ve all been playing with each other for a few years now,” he told the Sun. “It’s been a goal as a team to get as far as we can and possibly make a World Series. And we almost did—just came up a little short.”
While the team fell to KerWest 11-1 on July 27 to end their run, the boys have nothing to hang their heads over—especially Truhitte. The center fielder was instrumental as leadoff hitter for Santa Maria’s high-octane offense, which earned him All-Tournament honors.
“I just knew I had to go out there and perform for my team,” he said. “I did my job for my team.”
Truhitte’s baseball success this summer is just the start of what’s to come for the incoming junior at Santa Maria High School. His name is destined to make the papers again soon: Truhitte is a rising quarterback on the football team, a returning all-league point guard for the basketball team, and the third-basemen for the baseball team.
Truhitte has high hopes for 2016-2017 and ambitions to bring the Saints back to athletic relevance.
“My class—the class of 2018—we all are competitive kids,” he said. “We know what we want. We’re trying to get the athletic programs at Santa Maria back on the map.”
And that’s not just talk. At the same time his Babe Ruth baseball team was making headlines in July, he was simultaneously practicing with the Santa Maria football team four days per week.
“I was doing football in the morning and then going to baseball practice in the afternoon,” he explained. “Now that baseball’s over, I just have to worry about football.”
Truhitte’s work ethic and character is simply part of his nature, coach Garcia said.
“I’ve coached him since he was 8 years old,” Garcia said. “He’s just a good athlete and a great kid.”
This article appears in Aug 4-11, 2016.
