Hillsborough into title round; HMB stays alive

“We’re confident,” Hillsborough manager Ben Coughlin said. “We’re stressing to the boys to play with confidence but not be cocky. And, like we’ve been stressing all season, to keep it one pitch and one play at a time. But we’re confident and we’re in a good position right now.”

The pitching has been stellar as well. Left-hander Devin Saltzgaber scattered four hits over 4 1/3 innings to earn the win Tuesday, while striking out 10. It was hit first starting assignment since teaming with reliever Beau Schaffer for a shutout of Mt. Eden in the Section 3 quarterfinals.

“He was in command all night long,” Ben Coughlin said. “He mixed up his fastball and curveball well, and just really pitched a fantastic game.”

Schaffer again emerged in relief Tuesday to close out the shutout. And at the plate, Schaffer powered Hillsborough in the cleanup spot with a 2-for-3, four-RBI night.

“When we had the runners on we produced,” Ben Coughlin said. “And Beau has been solid in the cleanup spot for us all year.”

Hillsborough was quiet the first turn through the batting order but woke up in the third inning, breaking a scoreless tie with a five-spot. Schaffer got his team on the board with a two-run single. He followed with a two-run double in the fourth amid a four-run rally.

Saltzgaber and leadoff hitter Nate Coughlin added two hits apiece.

HMB advances in Majors tourney

Half Moon Bay advanced through the elimination bracket of the Division 2 Northern California Little League Majors Tournament with a 15-11 win over Redwood Empire Little League Tuesday night at Alta Mesa Park in Redding.

The kids from the Coastside jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first — stoked by a leadoff home run by Ben Cleary on the first pitch of the game — and added six runs in the second to up the lead to 11-1.

From there, HMB managed its pitching, using five arms while keeping aces Cleary and Liam Harrington available for Wednesday’s game against Tri-City.

The strategy nearly backfired. Reliever Charlie Underwood entered in the fifth to induce an inning-ending double play, but Redwood Empire got the tying run to the plate in the sixth. With the bases loaded and two outs, the game ended on a routine fly to center.

“The tying run came to the plate,” HMB manager Don Scatena said. “We worked hard to get to a point where we could avoid that. But it was worth it to keep our pitching intact.”