OCEANSIDE – Matt Cerda dug into the batter's box. The fate of the team rested squarely on the shoulders of his 4-foot-10, 85-pound frame.

Staring down from the mound at the 11-year-old was an imposing figure: a lanky left-hander whose blazing fastball awed onlookers who heard he was only 12.

Most anyone who lived in North County in 2001 knows what happened next.

Cerda struck out, the Bronx moved on to the 2001 Little League World Series U.S. finals but lost, and the left-hander – Danny Almonte – was discovered to be two years over the cutoff age and therefore ineligible to play.

The Bronx team was disgraced, and Almonte is now playing community college ball somewhere in Oklahoma.

But that's not the end of the story.

That tiny batter who was mowed down by the Almonte heater to end the game won't allow it to be.

Cerda, the youngest and smallest player on the LLWS Oceanside American Little League all-star team, is now 90 pounds heavier, a foot taller and one of the best baseball players in San Diego County.

The hard-hitting, slick-fielding shortstop is in his senior year at Oceanside High, where he's hitting .571 with six home runs and 20 RBI in 14 games. He recently accepted a scholarship to play baseball at the University of San Diego.

“He was the youngest and the smallest, but probably the one with the most heart,” said Oceanside all-stars manager Daryl Wasano. “There's a little bit of a difference when you see (Cerda) play versus other kids. He loves the game. He just loves everything about baseball.”

This love of the game endured even after Cerda and his teammates learned they had been cheated out of a chance at the LLWS championship in Williamsport, Penn.

“There was a little bitterness,” Cerda said. “But there's not much you can do about it. It's over and done with.”

So instead of dwelling on the loss, Cerda dedicated himself to becoming a better player. His first order of business, of course, was to get bigger and stronger.

“Once I got to high school, I started lifting weights,” he said.

Cerda's workout regimen paid off. As a freshman, he became Oceanside's starting second baseman, right next to Little League teammate and Pirates' shortstop Johnny Jimenez, and was named second team All-Avocado League.

In his next two years with Oceanside, Cerda made the all-league first team and, in his sophomore year, first team All-North County and second team All-CIF San Diego Section.

In his junior year, Cerda, who was moved to shortstop, led the Pirates to a league title and a trip to the CIF Division II semifinals.

Cerda's success made colleges take notice, but most were skeptical because of his size.

That all changed in June of last year when Cerda was chosen to play in the California Baseball Coaches Association North-South Series in Santa Clara, which pitted the 20 best high school players from Northern California against the 20 best from Southern California.

“Several coaches told me he was the best player out there,” said Oceanside head coach Dave Barrett, who also coached Cerda's father and older brother. “I think there was a question about how his size would translate, and I think those questions were all answered.

“He has something a lot harder to quantify than height, weight and other measurables. He's off the chart in the intangibles.”

Barrett said Cerda's passion and work ethic are owed in large part to his family, which helped keep him grounded after the LLWS hoopla.

“His entire family has been able to keep his head on straight and provided the right balance for him,” Barrett said.

Surprisingly, Cerda is one of only two players from the 2001 Oceanside Little League team who still plays competitive baseball, and the only one to receive a baseball scholarship. The other player, Bobby Shore, pitches for Palomar College.

Cerda is baffled that his fellow all-stars didn't stick with baseball.

“I don't know why they stopped playing,” he said. “That's probably the question I would ask if I saw them.

“There were a lot of good guys with a lot of talent. I think they would be (playing in college) if they would have kept playing.”

Wasano, who coached many of the players from the 2001 team, is also surprised that only two are still playing. But the fact that Cerda is one of them makes perfect sense to the former coach.

“Being around and coaching kids for as long as I have, you know when they have it,” Wasano said. “He has the desire to make it at the next level.”

Cerda calls making the professional ranks his “ultimate golden dream.”

But what about another shot at Almonte?

“I don't know,” Cerda said. “I think it would be a lot more fair this time, that's for sure.”

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