The championship run through the District 52 Minors Superbowl baseball tournament required a bit of comeback magic in Wednesday’s semifinals. Thursday’s championship coronation, however, was all Alpine.
Alpine Little League claimed the Minors Superbowl banner Thursday at Arguello Park with a 13-3 victory over San Carlos. Each of the 12 players in the lineup reached base, while cleanup batter Hunter Eakin got on in each of his four plate appearances, going 2 for 2 with two walks, three RBIs, and an RBI single in the top of the sixth to plate Alpine’s final run of the night.
“[The semifinal] game and today, everyone made plays at every position across the board,” Alpine manager Kailash Hiremath said.
Wednesday’s semifinal was much more dramatic, as Alpine rallied back from a 6-4 deficit in the fifth to earn the walk-off win. Maddax Douglass singled home a run in the sixth to close it to 6-5, and an RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Ethan Cope tied it. Then, after Deven Hiremath worked 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief on the mound, he produced the game-winning knock with an RBI single to drive home Eakin in the bottom of the sixth.
Alpine starter Hunter Eakin throws a pitch en route to earning the win in the championship finals.
Terry Bernal/Daily Journal
“It was a phenomenally fought out game, and the kids gutted it out,” Kailash Hiremath said. “It was extra special for me because it was my son that came in at the end, and hit the walk-off. So, I was super excited for him, personally speaking.”
Augi Vardharajan went 1 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs in the semifinal win, then paced Alpine in the championship game with a 3-for-4 night, including a double and an RBI.
Eakin took the start in the finals and earned the win, allowing one run on two hits through two innings of work. Efram Kauvak and Cope followed with two innings of relief apiece.
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Alpine jumped out to a 4-0 lead, scoring once in the first and three more in the second. San Carlos got on the board in the bottom of the second on Cameron Troy’s RBI infield single.
But Alpine responded with five runs in the top of the third. Vardharajan led off the frame with a double, Eakin singled and Clark Wilson drew a walk to load the bases. Deven Hiremath followed with a sacrifice fly to center. Then Xander Palecek came threw with the big swing, clearing the bases with a three-run double to right. Douglass capped the rally with an RBI single to make it 9-1.
San Carlos’ James Alessandri rounds first after reaching on a single Thursday at Arguello Park.
Terry Bernal/Daily Journal
San Carlos cut it to 9-3 in the third on RBI singles from Bowman Leek and Blake Barrett-Wong. But Alpine got the runs back in the fourth, loading the bases for an RBI walk from Eakin before Wilson cranked an RBI single to left. Eakin capped the scoring with a two-run single in the sixth.
Palecek totaled two hits in the contest and paced Alpine with four RBIs.
San Carlos advanced to the championship round by virtue of a 10-7 win over San Mateo American in Wednesday’s semifinals. San Carlos also enjoyed some comeback, walk-off magic, overcoming a late 7-5 deficit. After tying it with two runs in the bottom of the fifth, San Carlos set the table in the sixth with a leadoff single from Dante Whitlock and a walk from Luca Matteucci. Then the left-handed hitting Kurt Sutherland delivered a three-run home run to center field to walk it off.
Other players who contributed to Alpine’s 11-and-under Minors Superbowl championship were: Shep Rich, Connor Fahey, Charles Walker and Taj Walker.
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