Daly City Red plays spoiler in Colt League regular-season finale

Daly City, though, was the reason the Mudcats were in the driver’s seat to begin with, having handed Foster City a critical loss earlier in the season. And Thursday at Westborough Park, Daly City (14-4) enjoyed the chance to play spoiler, rallying late to overcome C&L for a 3-2 victory.

The win all but handed Foster City its first league title in over 10 years, as the Colt .45s defeated Burlingame 13-0 at Washington Park later in the evening to clinch the regular-season championship outright.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Daly City’s David Rebolini said. “It’s really good to beat this team. And we came up in the clutch.”

Rebolini, batting in the No. 8 spot in the order, was Mr. Clutch for Daly City, going 2 for 3 with all three of the team’s RBIs.

With Daly City trailing 1-0 in the fourth, he socked an RBI single through the middle to drive home Akeem Lewis with the tying run. Then in the sixth, Rebolini produced a two-run single to left-center, plating Luke Mar and Kieron Collins — who had taken second and third after Collins smashed a booming ground-rule double to left-center — with the eventual game-winning runs.

“I was just trying to drive it — RBIs,” Rebolini said of the game-winning knock, a letter-high fastball from C&L starter Ryan Thompson, who took the loss despite tossing a complete game.

“I love being in that situation, Rebolini said, “because [my teammates] are counting on me to contribute.”

It was a far better offensive showing than Daly City’s previous matchup with C&L, when Mudcats pitchers Leroy Stubbles and D.J. Ferrari teamed on June 7 to toss a no-hitter. Daly City’s primary No. 3 and 4 hitters — twin brothers Azaan and Akeem Lewis — didn’t start in that game, however. Having them both anchoring the heart of the batting order Thursday made a world of difference, Daly City manager Carlos Quintana said.

“It’s a big difference,” Quintana said. “We’re just a more balanced lineup. … It’s just better when you have a quality lineup 1 through 9.”

Akeem Lewis played a critical role on the mound as well, working the final three innings in relief to earn the win. The Mudcats, though, didn’t make it easy on the sturdy right-hander.

In the seventh, the Mudcats rallied for a near comeback. Trailing 3-1, C&L got life when cleanup hitter Lorenzo Perez smoked a leadoff double down the left-field line. Then, after Ferrari shot an opposite-field single to left to put runners at the corners, the ’Cats looked primed for a big finish.

“I felt like there was going to be a comeback but it just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to,” Perez said.

Perez went on to score on a wild pitch, with Ferrari advancing to second with one out. But Akeem Lewis settled down to record a groundout, advancing Ferrari to third, then his second strikeout of the night to end it.

Finishing as the second-place team in the standings, C&L still receives a first-round bye in the playoffs, beginning Saturday. C&L opens postseason play in next Monday’s semifinal round, with the championship game slated for next Wednesday at San Bruno Park at 6 p.m.

“We’re going to the playoffs,” Perez said. “It doesn’t matter what place we finish in. We’re just going to go play and win the championship.”