Alpine 11s All-Star manager Tim Katz really wanted to close out San Mateo American in Game 1 of the District 52 11s All-Star tournament Wednesday night, because he knew what his team was in store for if Alpine didn’t clinch the title.
Waiting in the wings was San Mateo ace Max Johnson.
San Mateo American was the hottest team in the tournament. After suffering a 4-3 loss to Hillsborough in the opener June 20, San Mateo won five straight games to make the championship series out of the consolation bracket.
San Mateo then ran its winning streak to six in a row after outlasting Alpine in Game 1 of the championship series Wednesday. The two teams battled back and forth, needing two extra innings before San Mateo emerged with a 10-9 win in eight innings.
That made Johnson eligible to pitch in Thursday’s winner-take-all finale.
Johnson did his job, working into the fifth innings before reaching his pitch count. And he was nasty. The lean, lanky lefty seemed to be on top of the batter with his long stride and a fastball that was simply overwhelming the Alpine hitters.
But Alpine managed to scrape across a couple runs, got as good a pitching effort from Wilson Shank as Alpine pulled out a 2-0 win at Sea Cloud Park in Foster City Thursday.
“Our guys felt a lot of pressure to win (Wednesday),” Katz said. “Knowing we’d face Max [Thursday].”
This Alpine team now adds the 11s championship to the 10s title won last year, that featured 10 of 12 players on this year’s squad.
Katz had good reason to not feel good about facing Johnson. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and was nearly unhittable, allowing just a pair of infield hits. He got a strikeout to end the first before striking out the side in the second. He added two more Ks in both the third and fourth innings to finish with eight strikeouts.
Koa Rosenberg came on to pitch two innings of relief and was just as good, striking out three of the four hitters he faced.
Meanwhile, Shank was matching Johnson. While not possessing nearly as dominating stuff, Shank was effective in his own way. He located his pitches well, kept the San Mateo batters off balance and allowed his defense to work behind him.
“I had the mindset of it’s just a regular game,” Shank said.
Shank worked into the sixth inning before reaching the 85-pitch limit. But before that, he limited San Mateo to just two hits, as well.
“Wilson was lights out,” Katz said.
The only trouble Shank ran into came in the bottom of the second, when Rosenberg led off the inning with the only solid hit of the game — a single to center. But he was erased at second on a Luke Murray fielder’s choice. But walks to Jojo Piazza and DJ Ben, sandwiched around a strikeout for the second out of the inning, loaded the bases.
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But Shank got a comebacker to end the threat and keep the game scoreless.
By the time he came out of the game in the bottom of the sixth, he left with a 2-0 lead. But he left reliever Charlie Katz a bit of a mess to clean up. San Mateo’s Cameron Mayer reached on an infield when he chopped a pitch off the plate and it stayed right there. That was followed by a walk to Jack Fee to end Shank’s night.
Charlie Katz came on and after getting to a 2-2 count on his first batter, he induced a grounder to get a 4-6-3 double play.
Mayer went to third on the play, but was stranded there when Charlie Katz fielder a comebacker and threw to first for the final out.
“It was really fun,” Shank said. “And it was my mom’s birthday.”
Alpine made it a joyous birthday for Shank’s mom as it scratched out a run in the top of the third inning. With one out, No. 10 hitter Dante Delfino reached on an infield hit. He went to second on a Henry Padrez groundout and took third on a passed ball.
No. 12 hitter Andrew Sulkin followed and he would strikeout on a 2-2 pitch. But the pitch got away from the catcher, not only enabling Sulkin to reach first, but allowed Delfino to score from third for a 1-0 Alpine lead.
Alpine put together a similar rally in the top of the fifth, this time scoring without benefit of a hit. Tayo An reached base on a fielder’s choice and with one out, he moved to second on a wild pitch and took third on a Hudson Rich flyout to right.
He came in to score on another wild pitch and Alpine had a 2-0 lead, one they nursed to the finish line.
“That’s kind of been our approach. Doing the little things right,” Tim Katz said. “We knew we weren’t going to score a lot of runs. … [San Mateo American] is a great team.”
With the win, Alpine advances to the Section 3 tournament. It won’t have to travel far as District 52 is the host district. But playing sites are yet to be determined. Section 3 play begins July 18.
San Mateo American captures District 52 10s title
San Mateo American went a perfect 4-0 in capturing the 10s championship, their first since 2022, allowing just six runs while outscoring its opponents, 28-6.
San Mateo opened with a 5-2 win over Alpine. It followed that with a 13-2 win over San Carlos in the winner’s bracket semifinals. SMA punched its ticket to the championship series after getting past Palo Alto, 3-2.
San Mateo American then ended things Wednesday in the first game of the championship series. Facing San Carlos in the title game, San Mateo American came away with a 7-0 shutout.
The win advances San Mateo American to the Section 3 tournament, beginning Saturday, July 18 at Newark Middle School in the East Bay.
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