Alpine one win from West Region

With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh, Weiss squibbed a cue shot to the right side of the infield, allowing Bodhi Bedner to race home with the go-ahead run.

“That is what Garrett Weiss does,” Alpine manager Dave Levinson said. “If you ask anybody at Alpine, for year after year after year, that kid gets more weird hits than any kid in the world. ... That was the ‘G’-est of ‘G’ hits right there.”

Closing pitcher Patrick Breslin then slammed the door in the bottom of the seventh, navigating with the extra-inning ghost runner on second base to strike out the side. Breslin earned the win, firing two scoreless innings, previously navigating through a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the sixth to force extra-innings.

“I was scared for my life out there,” Breslin said. “So scared. But I knew my team had me. They’ve got my back. They always do.”

The win marks the 10th straight for Alpine through their undefeated All-Stars summer run. With the team totaling 25 runs through their two previous games of the Nor Cal tournament, and having entered play Tuesday without a one-run game to their credit, it was by far the first time the kids from Portola Valley have faced a “cardiac kids” storyline.

“(Maidu had) a lot of energy,” Breslin said. “They brought it out. We knew they were going to be tough.”

Both teams’ starting pitchers set the tone as the game was scoreless into the fourth. Alpine starting pitcher Nolan Levinson made his sixth appearance in 10 games this summer, and did not disappoint, facing the minimum through two innings of work. The big right-hander allowed one baserunner with a leadoff walk to Raymond Escobar in the second, but he finished the inning with an at ’em ball line drive to Breslin at short, who fired behind the runner at first for a double play to retire the side.

Maidu starting pitcher Knox Needles was on his game as well, working one turn through the Alpine batter order to finish the third inning unscathed.

In the fourth, however, Alpine broke through against the hard-throwing right-hander. A leadoff single by Nolan Levinson set the table. He then took the tour, advancing on two wild pitches before scoring on a passed ball to put his team on the board. Alpine wasn’t done, as Kogan Flannery and Charles Saste drew back-to-back walks. Then with two out, Max Turner reached on an infield error to bring home Flannery, giving Alpine a 2-0 lead.

Maidu fired right back against the Alpine bullpen in the bottom of the frame. No. 12 batter Wyatt Yates set the table with a sharp one-out single. Then, after Needles reached on a two-out error, Sawyer Bovolick cashed in a loud two-run double to center to tie it 2-all. The inning could have been worse as Escobar followed with a high, towering fly ball to center field that arced high over the Lucchesi Park light standards. But center fielder Simeon Ouellette-Massiou managed to track it all the way into his glove despite the fractured line of sight.

“It was a really high fly ball but it blended in perfectly with the blackish gray sky,” Ouellette-Massiou said. “And I couldn’t see it, but I could see a little glimpse of white around it ... and it moved a little in the air because the wind was pushing a little down. And I could just see it for the last three feet with the light on it.”

Maidu did put a scare into everyone in Alpine World in the fifth, however, jumping ahead on a two-out, RBI single by Preston Ortega. Alpine had an answer in the top of the sixth inning, with Ouellette-Massiou again doing something that seemed small yet loomed oh so large, as the No. 11 batter worked the count full before drawing a leadoff walk.

“I really wanted to just put a ball in play hard, but I’ll take a walk,” Ouellette-Massiou said. “A walk is basically as good as a single. And I’m really happy I could get around for my team and tie the game.”

Tie it he did after Alpine loaded the bases. Nolan Levinson’s one-out single moved Ouellette-Massiou to second and, after the two advanced on a wild pitch, Kogan Flannery was intentionally walked to bring up the cleanup hitter Saste. He fell behind 0-2 in the count, but worked it even behind topping an infield single that glanced off the pitcher’s glove, allowing Ouellette-Massiou to score to tie it 3-all.

That set the stage for Weiss’ heroics an inning later. With Bedner the ghost runner at second to start the seventh, Maidu reliever Carter McIlnay got a quick strikeout on a menacing curveball. With Bedner advancing to third on a wild pitch, however, Derek Armstrong was intentionally walked. Dylan Dossola followed with a walk to load the bases, bringing Weiss to the plate to produce the “G” hit to earn the “W.”

With Nolan Levinson keeping his pitch count below 35 — he was super efficient with 11 pitches in the first, and 12 in the second — he is available to pitch on one day’s rest. That means he is eligible to take the ball Thursday night in the championship round.

Having navigated the winners’ bracket, Alpine now must be defeated twice to be denied the Nor Cal championship banner. First pitch Thursday night is slated for 6:30 p.m. An if-necessary game is tentatively scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m.