Danville rips Redwood City in opener

Redwood City (23-9) plays in a loser's bracket game today at 7 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. Top-seeded San Mateo plays either San Bruno or Half Moon Bay at 10 a.m. today.

"We got the sh- kicked out of us," Blues manager Tim Goode said. "They did everything better than we did, but tomorrow will be a different day, and that's what's great about this game. You take nothing from one game. You move on and acknowledge they played a great game, but you bury it and it's over. We've had big wins and big losses, and you have to stay even-keeled. The result today doesn't mean we suck. Just because we played poorly today, does it mean everything we did for the last two months goes for naught? No."

After playing errorless ball in the last three games, Redwood City committed four errors that led to three Danville runs. Still, a flawless effort in the field wouldn't have done much to change the outcome. The Hoots, which spent the entire summer traveling the country to play in national tournaments because there was no league for them to compete in this season due to insufficient 'A' league teams in the East Bay, battered Blues' pitching for 17 hits, including two home runs.

Even if it was only one game, the Hoots - which used to dominate this event, having won four consecutive years in the mid to late 1990s - now look like the favorite once again.

They crushed the ball with remarkable efficiency, played solid defense and received a sterling pitching performance from starter Bryan Faulds, who tossed a complete-game, five-hitter. Faulds, who is an incoming College of San Mateo sophomore, relied mostly on a pinpoint 87-88 mph fastball against a somewhat impatient Redwood City lineup. Faulds threw 85 pitches, 63 for strikes. During his freshman year at CSM, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound pitcher was used mostly in middle relief, tossing "around 25 innings with a 2.80 ERA."

"I felt good out there today," Faulds said. "I was hitting my spots and obviously got great run support. It's a lot of fun playing with these guys. It's a little tough being on the road all the time, but everything we've done has been to build us to play well in this tournament. It's important to win this because the last couple of years we haven't done as well. People say Danville is not as good as it used to be, and we're out to prove them wrong."

The Hoots led 3-0 after two innings before putting things away with a six-run third, highlighted by a three-run home run from Rob Waite. Four batters later, McAdams had to exit the game after hyperextending his right elbow, Goode said. McAdams allowed 10 hits and nine runs, six of which were earned. Redwood City scored its lone run in the bottom of the seventh on Alex Johnson's groundout, scoring Ryan Cavan, who had doubled to lead off the inning. The Blues advanced only three runners past second base.

The Hoots' Alex Weeks went 4 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Despite Redwood City's shoddy defense, centerfielder Brett Hart made two sensational diving grabs, and shortstop Cavan produced a nifty scoop of a ground ball in the top of the seventh, and helped turn two double plays. Doug Hansen had a team-high two hits. When asked what he was thinking with Danville pouring it on, Goode said, "Get enough runs to make them go nine (innings). Make them use more pitching."

Unfortunately for the Blues, nothing went right on a somber Tuesday.