BENICIA LITTLE LEAGUE’S 10/11 all-stars are hosting the District 53 Tournament at Community Park.

Benicia Little League’s 10/11-year-old all-star team gets a home field advantage when it hosts the District 53 Tournament at Community Park.

Benicia’s 10/11s begin play Friday against Fairfield Atlantic, and team manager Robbie Saitz likes the prospects of playing at the familiar confines of Community Park.

“It’s a big advantage because we don’t have to travel and we can watch other teams play,” Saitz said. “And it’ll be nice having the community out there rooting for us.”

Nui Fafita, Anthony (T.J.) Valentine Jr. and Ben Saitz played for Benicia’s 10/11 all-stars last year, which won only one game. Shane Irwin, Devin Mason, Dominic Naratil, Dominic Romano, Dylan Trammell and Trey Trias all played for last year’s 9/10 squad, which went 3-2.

“We have a fairly good group and our coaches did a really good job with them this year,” Saitz said. “It’s all about the camaraderie and guys buying into things. They all had really good seasons in the house league and now they have to come together as an all-star team and click quickly.”

Benicia is loaded with pitching as Trammell, Mason, Irwin, Naratil and Camron Jacobson can all throw well.

“They can do some good things and they’re going to hold down most of our pitching,” Saitz said.

The lineup can change from day to day. Jacobson, Saitz and Trammell have good speed and will probably bat near the top of the lineup. Mason, Fafita, Trias, Valentine Jr. and Gabriel Martinez are each capable of driving in runs.

“The beautiful thing about this team is that I can create any lineup and put guys at practically any position,” Saitz said. “We’re going to play things by committee. We’ll be as good as our entire roster. We’ve got some good speed at the top and some really good balance throughout the lineup.

“This is one of the deepest teams I’ve ever coached and I’ve been a part of a lot of teams in town over the years. If they can buy into their roles, whether it’s coming off the bench or coming in as a reliever or playing a different position, I think we’ll do something special. There’s no doubt that we have talent.”

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