If there is one benefit of coming through the consolation bracket of a double-elimination tournament, it's that teams can stay game sharp on a day-by-day basis.
The Foster City 9- and 10-year-old All-Star team lost to Hillsborough last Saturday but won three games in three days to make Friday's championship series against Hillsborough, which, as the winner's bracket finalist, hadn't played since Monday.
Since Hillsborough came out of the winner's bracket, it needs to lose twice in the championship series. It's going to need both those losses as Foster City beat Hillsborough 7-4, setting up a winner-take-all game at 10 a.m. Saturday at Lakeshore Park in San Mateo for the District 52 championship.
"Hillsborough is a great team. (They're) well coached and have strong players," said Foster City coach Steve Stahl. "But we have some game, too."
It seemed early on as if the offenses would rule the day. Both teams scored a pair of runs in the first inning. But that's when Stahl brought his ace pitcher into the game to start the second inning. Steven Ostrowski took over for Matt Kearns and limited a potent Hillsborough offense to just two runs on three hits in five innings of work, striking out eight in the process. He struck out the side in the second.
"It was all or nothing tonight," Stahl said. "I was going to start him ... but I switched things up a bit and started one of our relievers.
"He's our horse. We've been holding him (back) the whole tournament. We knew he was coming in tonight to take us to the championship game."
A slow, deliberate windup masked Ostrowski's whip-like right arm and a fastball that got on batters quicker than they anticipated. After striking out the side in the second, Ostrowski ran into some trouble in the third. Frankie Ferrari led off with a walk. Following a strikeout, Grant Goodman came to the plate and laced an opposite-field single to right. The ball got under the glove of the Foster City right fielder, allowing Ferrari to score from first and Goodman wound up on third. He later scored on a wild pitch to give Hillsborough a 4-2 lead.
Foster City, however, came right back with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the frame, sending 10 batters to the plate. Foster City had seven straight batters reach base safely, with Christian Santos, Connor Hulbert and Andrew Botta each driving in a run with a single. Another Foster City run came home on an error. Foster City tacked on an insurance run in the fourth when Dominic Filice bunted for a base hit, advanced to third on two wild pitches and scored on Ostrowski's infield hit.
"[Foster City] came out and played a great game," said Hillsborough coach Jeff Cozad. "We weren't as aggressive at the plate. We were a little flat. To [Foster City's] credit, they've battled through the loser's bracket. They're probably a little more game tough."
The top of the Foster City order did most of the damage. Filice and Brendan Toy combined to reach base five times and scored five runs. Ostrowski helped his own cause by driving in a pair of runs. Hillsborough was led by Goodman, who was 3 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI. Ferrari scored two runs.
"Don't count them out," Stahl said. "These (Foster City) kids have been working hard. They never give up."<
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