For the first time in its 69 year history, Golden Hill Little League has advanced to the Western Region Championship, playing for a chance to head on to Williamsport, Pennsylvania and compete for the Little League World Series Title. In an era where more and more kids are moving to privatized/competitive sports, this is the pinnacle of youth baseball and no team from Fullerton has ever made it this far.

To get here, Golden Hill’s 12 and under “All Star” team had to win the Division 56 Championship, beating all teams from Brea, Fullerton, La Habra, Whittier and Yorba Linda.  Then, they won the Section 5 Championship, where they beat the Division winners from Long Beach, Tustin and La Mirada.  Next, they competed for the Southern California “State” Championship, defeating the Sectional Champs from teams as far north as Santa Barbara and as far south as the border.  The Western Region has seen Golden Hill face teams from Hawaii (Honolulu Little League), Arizona (Phoenix) and Northern California (Alpine Little League).  After losing the first game 1-0 to Honolulu, Golden Hill has battled back behind great pitching from Lincoln Ploog, Max Woo and Gavin Janicke, with great run support, including clutch home runs by Eli Simon and Gavin Janicke.  This team is special and each player has contributed to a true team effort along the way.

Your 2025 Fullerton Golden Hill All Star team consists of Enzo Catota, Evan Cho, Max Choi, Reagan Pak, Gavin Janicke, Lincoln Ploog, Eli Simon, Kellen Tucker, Jacob Woo, Jacob Yun, Jake Morris and Nolan Saldana.  Coaches are Joe Janicke, Enoch Choi and Richard Pak.

The boys are on a great run and we wish them all the best as they take on Honolulu tonight.  There are local watch parties taking place at The Bowery and Roscoe’s and you can tune into ESPN at 6 PM to watch live.  To put this in perspective, Golden Hill Little League serves about 33,000 people who live within a 3.5 mile radius in our city and Honolulu Little League serves a greater metropolitan area of over 1 million people.

As documented by local historian David Jerome, our town has a rich and storied baseball history. From the Pacific Coast League at Amerige Park, to Fullerton High School Alumni throwing 4 no hitters in MLB, to Augie Garrido, Mark Kotsay, Kurt Suzuki, Ricky Romero, Chad Cordero, Justin Turner and the countless Titan legends who’ve helped them win 4 College World Series Titles and even the 2019 Golden Hill Junior League team who won the Junior League World Series Championship.  Tonight, our boys from Golden Hill have a chance to write a chapter of their own.

Let’s go Golden Hill!

Tonight, the Golden Hill All-Stars will face off against Honolulu in a highly anticipated matchup for the West Region Championship. The game will take place at Al Houghton Stadium in San Bernardino, where a spot in the Little League World Series in Williamsport is on the line.

Game Details:
Matchup: Golden Hill vs. Honolulu
Location: Al Houghton Stadium, San Bernardino
Time: 6:00 PM Tonight (Thursday)
Broadcast: Live on ESPN