Bels’ Major lineup silenced by San Ramon in Section 3 tourney

The Bels managed just five hits, all singles, but kept it close until the third. Then, trailing 1-0, three different Bels pitchers yielded a nine-run inning to San Ramon. The game was called after four innings via mercy rule.

“We ran into a little bit of a buzz saw of a team and we didn’t play up to our capabilities,” Belmont-Redwood Shores manager Chris Freiere said.

The sobering loss came a day after the Bels’ big 16-4 win over District 45-champion Castro Valley. Billed as a battle of former teammates, the Bels faced former Belmont native Sam Neal, who played with the Bels’ current Major squad last season at the 10-11s level.

Bels right-hander Tai Takahashi got the better of his former teammate though, firing three innings to earn the win. Never trailing in the game, the Bels erupted for four home runs throughout, three of which were three-run blasts and the other a grand slam off the bat of catcher Joey Thompson.

“We have power,” Freiere said. “Probably all 13 of them can hit the ball out of the park. … So we can surprise guys.”

It was Castro Valley that first flexed its muscles with the long ball. After the Bels jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, Castro Valley drew closer on a two-run home run by Cam Calvillo. But the Bells would get it back and then some in the top of the second when Jack Vanoncini drilled a three-run bomb to right, extending the lead to 6-2.

Neal didn’t pitch poorly. The big left-hander actually totaled seven strikeouts through the first two innings and finished with eight overall through three innings of work. His command, however, was suspect as he walked three and saw one of his punch-outs reach by way of wild pitch.

The Bels also had a secret weapon in the way of Vanoncini, who caught Neal last year. Now a center fielder — who ranged to turn in a magnificent diving catch late in the game — Vanoncini said he noticed his homer fired up his teammates in a big way.

“It just got everybody excited,” Vanoncini said. “They were all swinging the bat and being aggressive to the ball.”

Neal set down the side in order in the third, but departed to start the fourth. And once the Bels got into Castro Valley’s bullpen, the rout was on.

The Bels sent 15 batters to the plate in the fourth inning, with cleanup hitter Nelson Hawkins supplying a three-run home run and Thompson following with a grand slam. Left-handed swinging Tripp Garrish then capped the rally with a three-run bomb of his own to give the Bels the mercy-rule differential.

“Once we got into their bullpen it was just perfect pitching for us and we all started hitting,” Garrish said.

Garrish has played for the Bels All-Stars for the past three seasons, starting at the 9-10s in 2014 and moving up to the 10-11s last year. He said Saturday’s 10-run outburst in the fourth was the best single-inning total he has seen in his All-Star career.

Bels reliever Michael Chu set down the side in order in the bottom of the fourth to end it, with help from Vanoncini in center. The former catcher got a great first step on a sinking line drive off the bat of Castro Valley No. 9 hitter Nate Olson and extended with a dive into the right-center gap to glove it with a tumble.

With Sunday’s loss, up next for the Bels is an elimination game Monday night at 5:30 p.m. at Middlefield Park in a rematch with Castro Valley. The winner of that game will advance to the championship round to face San Ramon Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Having advanced through the winners’ bracket, San Ramon would need be defeated twice. If necessary, the second game of the championship round will be played Wednesday at 5:30.

San Ramon has yet to surrender a run in the tourney, also notching a shutout 10-0 in Saturday’s opener over District 14.

“It’s tougher obviously,” Freiere said of falling to the losers’ bracket. “That (San Ramon) team is a really good team. We thought they were going in and they showed it. Now we have to beat them twice which is going to be a tough task for sure.”