Tony Wolters is a junior second baseman at Rancho Buena Vista High. Daniel Camarena is a sophomore pitcher at Cathedral Catholic High.
Both spent last month as members of the USA Under-16 Junior Olympic baseball team, which won a gold medal in the Pan American Championships in Veracruz, Mexico.
The games were played in an atmosphere far different from any the athletes had experienced.
“On the bus ride down through the town, it made me realize in the U.S. we take for granted where we live,” Wolters said. “We understand now more to love where we live.”
Accustomed to crowds of several hundred at high school games, Wolters and Camarena experienced crowds of about 3,000 against Cuba and Mexico.
“There was a schoolhouse beyond the outfield fence, and one game there were 15 children on the roof yelling at us,” Camarena said. “We just had to ignore the fans or they'd gobble you up.”
Wolters and Camarena played well for Team USA, which compiled an 8-0 record. Wolters batted .364 (8-for-22) with 14 runs scored, 11 walks and six RBIs. Camarena pitched in one game, holding Aruba scoreless for eight innings while striking out eight.
“Each team probably had three or four super-good players. On our team everyone was unbelievably good,” said Wolters, one of 19 players on the squad selected through a series of trials. “I had never been around so many good players.”
Team USA's toughest test came early in the tournament against Cuba. The game was scoreless for 10 innings before the Americans pushed across three runs in the top of the 11th for an eventual 3-1 victory.
“They had the upper hand most of the game and we were kind of playing catch-up,” Camarena said. “They made a few mistakes.”
Wolters scored one of the runs in the 11th inning, resulting in the only loss for Cuba, which won the silver medal.
“That was a crazy game. We weren't hitting at all,” Wolters said. “That was probably the most pressure I've ever faced.”
For the San Diegans, the trip south was made easier by the fact that they knew each other, having been teammates in travel ball.
“Daniel is like my brother,” said Wolters, who lives in Vista. “He's a guy that has a gift and he's using it. He leaves absolutely everything on the field.”
Camarena, who lives in Bonita, had similar sentiments.
“Tony is the second baseman you want, and he's probably the best leadoff hitter you could want,” Camarena said. “We saw every pitch the pitcher had by the end of his first at-bat.”
Both returned with the same reminder of why they went to Veracruz.
Said Camarena: “It was exciting not only playing for our country, but also for our town.”
