HMB walks off with Section 3 Majors crown

A day after handing Union City American its first loss of the tournament with a walk-off home run to give HMB a 2-1 win, Cleary homered twice in a nine-run bottom of the fifth, including a walk-off grand slam to punctuate a 10-0 victory at Marshall Park in Fremont and give HMB the Section 3 title and its first-ever berth into the state tournament.

“I don't think I’ve ever done that before,” Cleary said of his two bombs in one inning. “We hadn’t been lighting anything up. … It was good to know we can do it.”

Cleary’s first homer came with Geoffrey Gus on first after being hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Cleary, the leadoff hitter, came to the plate and, on a 2-2 count, hit a laser over the fence in left-center field, giving HMB some breathing room and a 3-0 lead.

Cleary came to the plate again three runs later and the bases loaded and unloaded on the first pitch he saw — a towering blast over the center-field fence to give HMB the 10-run, mercy-rule win.

“He’s key for us,” said HMB starting pitcher Liam Harrington. “He’s probably our best hitter.”

If Cleary is the team’s best hitter, then Harrington is its best pitcher. Harrington was dominant as he threw a no-hitter on just 57 pitches through five innings, striking out seven with only a pair of walks standing between him and a perfect game.

“It feels awesome,” Harrington said. “I’ve had no-hitters before, but never in a game like this.”

He retired the side on just seven pitches in the first inning and then struck out the side in the second — all looking.

“My fastball was dealing. My curveball was snapping,” Harrington said. “I was just going. I was loose. My arm felt on point.”

HMB needed Harrington at his best because for the first four innings, the game was a pitcher's duel. UCA’s AJ Boyles was just as effective as the big southpaw held HMB to just one hit through four innings.

The one hit allowed came in the first inning as HMB quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead. With one out, Charlie Underwood walked. Harrington followed with a strikeout, with Underwood moving to second on a wild pitch.

It was important 60 feet because Underwood scored on Ian Armstrong’s double to left to give Harrington a lead with which to work.

From there, Harrington and Boyles locked in. Boyles allowed only three more base runners in the second through fourth innings: Aidan Vazquez was hit by a pitch in the second, Harrington reached on a dropped third strike in the third and Vazquez walked in the fourth.

Harrington lost his perfect game with a walk to the No. 9 hitter with one out in the top of the third before the HMB defense made the play of the game, turning a 4-6-3 double play. Ryan Harrington started the twin-killing by gobbling up a grounder at second base and flipping to Cleary covering the second-base bag. He fired to Gavin Glynn at first base to get the runner by half a step and end the inning.

Harrington issued another one-out walk in the fourth, but Glynn snared a line-drive shot at him for the second out and flyout to right ended UCA’s last chance.

That’s because HMB ended the game in the bottom half of the frame, collecting nine runs on five hits as it sent 11 batters to the plate. In addition to Guz’s hit-by-pitch to lead off the inning and Cleary’s two home runs, Liam Harrington, Armstrong and Vazquez all got hits. Glynn, Myles Rippberger and Luca Scatena all walked, while Ryan Harrington reached on a fielder’s choice.

“We saw the ball well the last time we saw them (on Monday),” said HMB manager Don Scatena. “We knew we’d be in a great spot (in the championship game).”

The win sends HMB to the state tournament beginning Saturday in Redding. HMB is now one step away from the Western Regional tournament in San Bernadino and two steps away from the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennslyvania.

“Never (been to the state tournament),” Don Scatena said. “We’ve had only two teams win district (before this year).”