Alpine All-Stars flex power in District 52 12s tournament

Then in the fifth came the power show, as Charles Saste and Derek Armstrong homered on back-to-back pitches to fuel a five-run inning en route to Alpine’s 7-1 victory over Hillsborough.

“Obviously, it was pretty awesome,” Alpine manager David Levinson said. “That’s fun for our team ... back-to-back. Especially at this age. It doesn’t happen that much.”

Alpine pitchers Nolan Levinson and Max Turner took care of the rest, as they kept up their end of the pitching duel with a dominant showing. Nolan Levinson cruised through five innings, as the tall right-hander’s loose three-quarter release kept Hillsborough off balance all afternoon. Alpine’s ace worked five innings, allowing two hits and one hit batsman while notching 12 strikeouts, including punch-outs on the last six outs he recorded.

“I thought he was good,” David Levinson said. “He pitched great.”

Alpine’s offensive explosion cost Turner a save opportunity, as the right-hander was ready and warmed to pitch the sixth regardless of the score, with Nolan Levinson having maxed out his pitch count. Turner survived a bout of wildness — with one out, he hit Gianni Morrone with a pitch and walked Thomas Ramirez — and ended the game with a strikeout and a groundout.

“I am also really proud of Max,” David Levinson said. “He obviously calmed down and was able to put it in play.”

Alpine’s ability to relax in the sixth was not how it went for most of the game, a low-scoring nail-biter through the first four-and-a-half frames.

“Not a lopsided game at all,” David Levinson said.

Alpine and Hillsborough are accustomed to playing them close. Two years ago in the District 52 10s tournament, Hillsborough received a first-round bye and was rested and ready on day two of the tourney to top Alpine 7-5. This year, the roles were reversed, as it was Alpine that received the first-round bye. Hillsborough, meanwhile, opened play Saturday with an 11-1 win over Foster City.

“So, we knew it was going to be a dogfight,” David Levinson said. “[Hillsborough], it is a great team and 7-1 is not reflective of how good they are.”

Alpine’s knack for seizing second chances was evident all throughout the day.

Hillsborough jumped ahead in the first thanks to some heads up base running by leadoff man Will Duffell. After a walk and two wild pitches put Duffell at third, No. 3 hitter Easton Andreacchi took a called third strike. The ball was boxed by the catcher, however, and careened to the backstop for a passed ball. Duffell seized on the miscue and dashed home to score the game’s first run, staking Hillsborough to a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning, however, Hillsborough gave Nolan Levinson a second chance at the plate, and the slugging left-handed tower of a 12-year-old did not miss it. After lifting a foul popup near the dugout that was dropped, Levinson crushed a high fastball well over the fence in right for a solo home run to tie it 1-1.

Alpine again seized on a second chance, this time with bases-loaded opportunities in consecutive innings.

In the third, Alpine loaded the bases with one out but could not cash in, with Hillsborough starting pitcher Finn Rowbotham getting a called third strike for the second out, and the left-handed reliever Ramirez entering to induce a grounder to second off the bat of the slugging Nolan Levinson to escape the jam. When Alpine loaded the bases again in the fourth, this time with no outs, they pushed across the go-ahead run when Bodhi Bednar pounded a chopper off the plate high in the air to leg out an infield single and drive home Saste to give Alpine a 2-1 lead.

After Nolan Levinson struck out the side in the top of the fifth, Alpine’s bats came to life. Simeon Ouellette-Massiou sparked the big rally with a one-out single, and Turner followed with a hard double up the left-center gap, with Ouellette-Massiou scoring on a throwing error. Dylan Dossola followed with an RBI single to left to make it 4-1.

After Nolan Levinson flew out to left for the second out, Hillsborough made a pitching change. And Saste didn’t wait around, jumping on the first pitch to scorch a two-run home run to straightaway center field.

“I saw he was throwing a lot of strikes in the warmups,” Saste said. “And I was really pumped because the game was in my hands at that point.”

The homer was the first in organized baseball for Saste, who didn’t even go yard during the Alpine Little League regular season with Hengehold Trucks.

“He only started hitting them in scrimmages,” David Levinson said. “In All-Stars the power really came on.”

Then Armstrong stepped up to give a command performance, homering on the first pitch he saw as well.

“He’s another guy that’s come along in terms of power,” David Levinson said.

Saste, Turner and Patrick Breslin had two hits apiece for Alpine. Hillsborough finished the day with two hits — a third-inning double from Ivan Grizelj and a fifth-inning single by Colton Kreuzkamp.

With the win, Alpine advances to the winners’ bracket quarterfinals to face Palo Alto, Thursday, at 4 p.m. Hillsborough falls to the elimination bracket to take on Half Moon Bay, Monday, at 6:30 p.m.