There is a belief all around El Paso that if local student athletes were just given a chance, if they just had the proper platforms, they could achieve anything.
People who say that can point to the Horizon
Elite baseball team, a squad of 12 13- and-14-year-olds playing in the Junior League division of Little League, soon to be students at Eastlake High School. They are heading off to Seguin as state champions of Texas West to play in the Junior League Baseball Southwest Regional Tournament.
If they win the six-team tournament that features squads from Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico, they will head to Michigan for the Junior League World Series.
Horizon Elite takes shot to make World Series
"This means a lot," manager Brian Villagrana said. "There is a lot of talent here, that gets me. Why doesn't UTEP have a baseball team? Why isn't there more exposure? The kid just got signed from Americas, Andrew Gonzalez (drafted by the New York Yankees). All these players come out of El Paso and there is a lot more talent coming up."
To that end, Horizon Elite is in the right place at the right time, as four years ago they wouldn't have had this opportunity.
Instead, they are a feel-good story in a feel-good league. El Paso had gone more than 20 years without a chartered Little League before local philanthropist Dr. Dwayne Aboud, at the time the director of the Border Youth Athletic Association, began the lengthy process of getting a charter.
El Paso Youth Border League gives players a chance
That came to fruition in the form of the El Paso Youth Border League for the 2024 season, just as Aboud was retiring from and handing off the directorship of the BYAA to his then No. 2 George Gaspar. Aboud said the initial idea to base the team in far East El Paso was to help youth in a lower-income part of town stay in school.
Now in its third season, Gaspar said the league has 42 teams across six divisions, from T-ball with 5-year-olds to the U16s, with 700 participants. And now they have a Texas state champion.
The Horizon Elite team, which came together last year when players on the Eastlake Middle School team decided to team up for summer Little League, specifically the Junior League level. This is the first level of Little League that uses full-regulation parks and basepaths.
The 11- and 12-year-olds are the flagship division of Little League that play the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, while the Junior League heads to Taylor, Michigan, for their World Series.
"It's a great opportunity for the boys to be out here playing for El Paso," Villagrana said. "It's the first time District 37 has won a state championship and they are coming out from Horizon. This is a great opportunity.
"It's a great feeling for the kids. It's great to have this opportunity to represent Horizon."
Gaspar pointed out what this means for El Paso and Horizon.
Horizon Elite rolls to state title
"It shows we have the talent to make it onto that national level," Gaspar said. "Once you hit regionals, it's a national-level tournament. We're not playing against local teams or even other teams in the state. We're playing against the best that other states have."
To get here, Horizon won the District 37 tournament in Pecos, then a sectional tournament in Lubbock, then the state tournament in Abilene. In that double-elimination tournament, they were undefeated, but in the championship game they trailed a team from Corpus Christi 1-0 in the seventh inning before forcing a tie, then winning on an eight-inning walk-off from Isaiah Machado for a 2-1 victory.
Texas is big enough to have two state champions, including a Texas East representative from Rosenberg that Horizon will open against Thursday evening to start the double-elimination tournament in Seguin that will run through the weekend.
"It's good because I get to be with my friends and experience all we've gotten to do together, bond together," said Aiden Villagrana, who is the coach's son and center fielder and pitcher. "Winning that game was amazing, after that we just wanted to celebrate. It was a great experience.
"We have to keep working hard and be focused. Representing El Paso and Horizon is cool because not a lot of people get to experience this."
His teammate Michael Zuniga, a 14-year-old freshman-to-be at Eastlake, can't wait to get to Seguin.
"It's great because I really love these boys and to have these experiences with them is awesome," said Zuniga, who plays catcher, third base and first base. "It's amazing. I know the talent we have in (El Paso). We can compete with all those other boys. It's amazing we get to represent El Paso as a whole team."
They've taken that to a level no Little League team from El Paso has in decades and decades, all because they got a fair chance to showcase their talent.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso County baseball team chases Little League World Series dream
