Two Visalia youth baseball teams made history over the weekend.
On Saturday, July 18, the Visalia Blues 11U baseball team defeated Tulare in a 4-3 nailbiter before taking down Elk Grove in the Pacific Southwest Regional Tournament finale.
On the same day, the Blues 12U squad defeated Hilo Black of Hawaii to claim their respective regional championship.
And now, both the Visalia Blues 11U and 12U baseball teams will be heading to the 2026 Cal Ripken World Series.
“It’s pretty special, but I’m not surprised by it either,” Blues 11U manager Brandon Peters said.
Peters has known 12U manager Kyle Newton since the pair played against each other during their college baseball days. The relationship between the two managers, as well as the relationship between the players on both teams, is a big reason why both teams achieved this success.
“Those kids on that 12-year-old team really pushed a lot of our 11-year-olds throughout the regular season,” Peters said. “We have a close bond. A lot of the kids go to school with each other, and there’s some really good friendships amongst the teams. It’s definitely cool to be doing it with them and having the kind of success we are having while representing our town.”
The accomplishment is the result of months, if not years, of hard work and domination on the field by the players, and countless hours of support from coaches, parents and family. Newton and the 12U squad finished with an outstanding 34-1 record, while Peters led the 11U team to a 27-5 record.
The wins are nice, and it’s ultimately what got both teams to this point of the season, but it’s not the main focus of the program. Instead, the Blues focus on taking the small steps that lead to progress on the field.
“Attitude and effort. That’s the only thing we want from them,” Newton said. “We never focus on the result; we always focus on the process. Trust the process, put the work in. When it comes time for games, just play, have fun and enjoy it.”
Peters has coached the same group of boys since the current 11U team was competing at the 8U level. Every year since then, Peters and the Blues have reached the regional championship game, but in 2026, they finally broke through.
“We’ve had some really talented groups, but something did feel different about this team from the start,” Peters said. “I thought there was a really good chance that we could win the regional this year.”
Peters typically sees players improve physically as they get older, but a key to his team’s success was the development in how his players approached the mental side of the game.
“More than anything they’ve really just matured the most out of any year and in a quick period of time as far as their physicality and mentally, but more so mentally,” Peters said. “There’s obviously a lot of failure in the game of baseball, and the way they’ve handled those moments and have been able to move on quicker is a big reason why they’ve had more success.”
For Newton, it was a combination of physical growth and the addition of new players from the league that helped this All-Star squad reach a goal they’ve been “eyeballing” for the past few years.
“There were a handful of kids that I was considering during our regular season that kind of had that 12, 13-year-old growth spurt,” Newton said. “They just really started hitting the ball hard, throwing the ball hard and just took that next step as young men growing up and getting stronger.”
The 12U team is set to compete for the World Series title in Branson, Missouri, between Aug. 5-15. Peters and the 11U players will head to Crown Point, Indiana, between Aug. 6-15.
“It really is validation in a lot of areas,” Newton said. “We tend to do things differently where we never focus on results, we just focus on development and a long-term goal. Obviously, we wanted to win regionals. We want to win the World Series for that matter, but ultimately we want to just continue to develop young men.”
Between now and August, players, parents and coaches will be working tirelessly to raise funds to help cover the cost of the cross-country trips. Even though it’s only been a few days since the Blues arrived back home, Newton and Peters have already seen the community support the young men who will be heading to Branson and Crown Point, respectively.
“The community has stepped up, and I don’t think I can even put it into words,” Newton said. “The amount of money they are donating toward our cause. Anything we ask for, we have someone who’s stepping up and saying, ‘No problem. We got that.'”
“It just goes to show that the community of Visalia baseball and the Central Valley is such a tight knit community, and everybody support each other. It’s really fun to be a part of, and we appreciate them so much.”
On Thursday, 1852 Brew Co is hosting a “Pint Night” fundraiser, and the proceeds from pints bought between 5 p.m. and closing time will be donated to support the Visalia Blues All-Star teams. It’s one of many ways the community can help support the team as they compete for a World Series title.
“It’s been an incredible response throughout the entire community. The support is there and we have tons of people willing to help us with different ideas,” Peters said. “People are really going out of their way to make sure that these kids get to go live out their dreams.”
Brett Abrams is a sports reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. He covers high school and local sports in the Redding area. Reach out to Brett with any sports tips or news on X (formerly Twitter) @brabrams_ or by email at Brett.Abrams@Redding.com. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: A historic summer: Two Visalia Blues teams reach World Series
Reporting by Brett Abrams, Redding Record Searchlight / Visalia Times-Delta
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By Brett Abrams, Redding Record Searchlight | USA TODAY Network
