Taylor Earle transferred to Fallbrook High School from a small private school in the ninth grade. He knew no one.
“It was so (darn) scary,” said Earle.
On the third day of school, Earle walked into a biology class, spotted Justin Hargrove, a sophomore he knew from baseball tryouts, and sat right next to him.
Said Earle: “I needed a buddy.”
And that, right there, was the beginning of friendship now deep into its second decade. Earle and Hargrove played baseball together at Fallbrook, would be the best man at each other’s wedding and are longtime Over-The-Line teammates.
On Sunday afternoon at Fiesta Island, Earle, 34, and Hargrove, 35, along with 31-year-old Troy Cruz, won the men’s Open Division of the 72nd annual Old Mission Beach Athletic Club Over-The-Line World Championship.
The trio, representing Valley Farm Market, needed just two innings to defeat The B Unit — Aaron Boatwright, Billy Bright III and Eric Barlow — by the score of 22-2.
It was the second straight Open Division title for the threesome. For Earle and Hargrove, the win marked their fifth Open titles. Cruz earned his second ring.
Valley Farm Market, which finished the double-elimination tournament undefeated, put the pressure on from the first pitch, scoring 10 runs in the top of the first.
“Double digits is always good,” said Cruz.
When Boatwright, Bright and Barlow went down in order in the bottom of the first, the outcome seemed just a matter of time.
“Shutting them down the first inning,” said Cruz, “that’s a big boost.”
After giving up 12 runs in the second inning, The B Unit scored just two runs in the second and the tournament was history. A game is over when any team leads by 11 or more runs after an inning.
Playing the deep position, Cruz latched onto the final out, then sprinted in, jumping into Hargrove’s arms.
The tournament is best known for its bawdy behavior on the opening weekend: the risqué team names, Miss Emerson contest and adult party scene. (Years ago, ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” offered to telecast the tournament if OMBAC would nix the raunchy names. OMBAC declined.)
But to the hardcore, talented players, the second weekend is the show, when championships are won and rings earned.
Take Hargrove, a third-grade teacher who lives in Temecula. By May, he starts heading down to San Diego every other weekend to practice. By June, it’s an every weekend endeavor.
“There’s a lot of time put into it,” said Hargrove. “We go to the beach just to hit, discuss hitting and defense. We take pride in how we analyze the game.”
About Earle and Hargrove now having won five Open titles, Boatwright said: “That’s a hell of an accomplishment. They’re some of the best to ever play the game, that’s for sure.” The men’s record is believed to be 12, held by Chuck Cromar.
Earle on what makes Hargrove so good, “He’s absolutely the best Over-The-Line player now, by a significant margin. I’m dead serious. He’s an insanely good hitter, so athletic and so crazy good on defense. He doesn’t make an out. We call him The Terminator.”
Hargrove on what makes Earle so good, “Taylor is a wall on defense. He’s 6-foot-6 (and 300 pounds) and by far, I think, the best hitter on the beach.”
Asked what it means to win a fifth world championship, Earle said, “It’s not the rings. It’s the experience. A billionaire couldn’t buy what I feel when I wake up on Saturday and Sunday (on championship weekend). It’s so nervy. We don’t win any money. It doesn’t enrich my life. But the process is so hard and to do it is (darn) amazing.”
Earle’s wife, Kelsey, one of the best women’s OTL players, has won four world championships. While giving her a hug, Hargrove reminded Kelsey she now trails the best friends by one in the ring department.
Holding her sleeping son of 9 months, Hank, Kelsey jokingly said of Hargrove: “What a jerk.” Then she paused and added, “I’m so proud of them.”
Sanjo Roostmade won the women’s Open Division, defeating Sunstate. The championship team was made up of Marisa Tirri, Dewey Fleet and Kelly Park.
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