Hillsborough is history

The final, which started on Tuesday but was suspended due to darkness, resumed with Hillsborough trailing by a run entering the bottom of the 10th inning. Like the champions they are, the All-Stars from the posh Peninsula city fought to the end. Matt Krook singled on the first pitch he saw, but moments later was caught off first base and doubled up on Kevin O'Connor's lineout. Joe Holmes and Henry Caruso followed with singles before San Ramon Valley pitcher Draco Roberts recorded a strikeout to end things.

Just like that, Hillsborough's dreams of advancing to the state championship were over. However, the loss did nothing to dampen the team's spirits. Coaches hugged, parents congratulated each other on a great run while making great use of their camcorders, and all the kids could think about was the postgame party at The Windy City, along with running around the bases and getting their uniforms dirty. This is the American Beauty of baseball at this age group - the players don't take wins and losses as life and death, nor should they. Instead, for six glorious weeks they took many for a magical ride that won't soon be forgotten.

"I'm going to miss the parties the most," second baseman Nick Waldsmith said. "The team met up at least three times a week at someone's place. This is the most fun I've ever had. I'm going to miss not being with the team everyday and playing together. The loss is kind of tough, but San Ramon Valley was the best hitting team we've seen by far."

Indeed. Roberts was a particular thorn on Hillsborough's side, drilling three home runs in two games against the District 52 champions. In a game that could only be described as surreal - there were four ties and five lead changes as both teams made numerous mental mistakes that prevented either from clinching a victory on Tuesday. Hillsborough went up 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning when Chris Baker scored on a wild pitch and Holmes hit an RBI single. San Ramon Valley answered with two in the second before Hillsborough took a 5-2 lead in the bottom half of the inning.

Frankie Ferrari reached first base on a fielder's choice with one out and Baker walked. Waldsmith then hit a two-run triple, and scored on the same play on a SRV throwing error. If Hillsborough has any regrets, it will look back at the fourth inning as a major part of its undoing. That's when San Ramon Valley scored four times with two outs, highlighted by Roberts' three-run home run. The hit came after Joe Vigil reached on an error with two outs, and Mitchell Peterson followed with a bad-hop single off shortstop Baker to set up Roberts' heroics. But Krook came up with the first of his two clutch game-tying singles to even things at 6 in the bottom half and once again in the seventh.

San Ramon Valley produced only one run after loading the bases in the sixth and seventh innings, thanks to some solid relief pitching from Waldsmith and Krook. Hillsborough had a golden opportunity to win it in the eighth, but Caruso was gunned down at home plate. First baseman Patrick Lynch saved a run in the ninth after making a perfect throw to nail SRV's Chris Miller at third, and Waldsmith preserved at least one run after making a nifty catch and touching second base for a double play after SRV had the bases loaded in the second. Holmes started and threw four solid innings, allowing two earned runs. Waldsmith and Krook combined to pitch the next six innings, allowing only two runs. Waldsmith went 5 for 6 with two runs scored and two RBI, Baker scored three times, Holmes had three hits and Krook finished 4 for 6 in Hillsborough's 20-hit attack.

"To get 20 hits and lose is pretty tough," Hillsborough manager R.J. Waldsmith said. "Over the last six weeks, we've developed something special. I couldn't ask more from the kids. We had a routine everyday and called it Groundhog Day. We practiced the same and ran the pregame the same way everyday. I'm going to miss that aspect of our team a lot. And I'm going to remember how well the kids jelled together and what a terrific unit they were. When you have such a great group of kids like this, you feel like they're all of your own. That's really neat. And when you're coaching sometimes you get too close. I want to sit back now and watch the tape and enjoy it."

Waldsmith is going to like what he sees, as contributions came from the entire roster, including underrated stars in Evan Finney, Devyn Jackson, Robby Dean and Glenn Baxter.

"All-Star play is all about having fun," Holmes said. "It's tough that we lost, but we're having fun already. I'll remember this for the great group of kids we had and how we got so far."

And showed what baseball - along with the human spirit - is all about.

San Ramon Valley 020 400 100 1 - 8 17 2

Hillsborough 230 100 100 0 - 7 20 3

WP - Roberts. LP - Krook. 3B - Waldsmith. HR - Roberts. 3 hits - Peterson, Roberts, Holmes. 4 hits - Chahin, Krook. 5 hits - Waldsmith.