Alpine’s ‘younger brothers’ storm into District 52 9-10s title round

The tradition of baseball families in the Portola Valley area is showing up in this year’s District 52 tournaments. Six of Alpine’s 9-10s players have older brothers who previously played for the team, many of whom are currently playing at higher levels of All-Stars.

“This is kind of the younger brothers’ shot to go for it,” Alpine manager Ryan Sweeney said. “And they’re embracing it.”

Pitchers Brandon Sweeney and Jake Scott dazzled in Friday’s winners’ bracket semifinal, facing just two batters over the minimum to front the four-inning, mercy-rule victory. Brandon Sweeney made his first start of the tournament, working 2 2/3 innings while striking out seven batters in a row at one stretch.

“It’s always nerve-racking when your son’s on the mound but he gave us a great start,” Ryan Sweeney said. “He was throwing really well.”

Scott emerged in relief in the third inning and continued the dominant performance for Alpine. The right-hander cruised through 1 1/3 innings, striking out two.

“I think the fastball really works for the both of us because we have some high velocity that maybe some kids can’t catch up to,” Scott said. “And that works a lot.”

Scott also starred at the plate, going 4 for 4 with four singles and two RBIs. Alpine’s cleanup hitter was having difficulty squaring up the ball from San Carlos pitchers Wren Pitstick, Cade Ostrander and Ben Eisenberg, but his quiet approach, soft hands and smooth path to the ball allowed him to scatter hits all night long with exactly one per inning.

“I don’t think I’ve done the best I can do because tonight I was getting jammed, but I placed it well,” Scott said. “But I’ve definitely had better games at the plate by far. But I really like that I went 4 for 4.”

San Carlos’ batters are no pushovers at the plate. The team totaled 27 runs through its three previous games in the tournament. And San Carlos’ last two wins — 7-6 over San Mateo National and 9-8 over Pacifica American — were both walk-off thrillers.

“We’ve had a good tournament,” San Carlos manager Dino Perazzo said. “We’ve been grinding. … We just have a team full of grinders. We don’t have two guys that are head and shoulders above everybody else. We just never gave up.”

In last Sunday’s win over San Mateo National, Austin Perna delivered the game-winning hit, a booming double to right field to score Eisenberg in a cloud of dust all the way from first base.

Then in Tuesday’s extra-inning walk-off against Pacifica American, both teams battled with back-and-forth scoring barbs that saw San Carlos trailing 8-6 heading into the bottom of the sixth. San Carlos tied it to force extra innings, then walked it off in the bottom of the seventh when pinch-hitter Cooper Smith singled home Ostrander with the game-winner.

Smith, as a reserve player, has seen limited at-bats throughout the tournament. But his ability to step up and deliver in the clutch is what Little League is all about, according to Perazzo.

“We just had kind of a feeling to put him in there in the last at-bat, and he got the walk-off hit,” Perazzo said.

Friday, however, all the offensive exploits belonged to Alpine.

Alpine scored five times in the second inning, loading the bases before Wyatt Weiss got his team on the board with an RBI fielder’s choice. Then the legs of Brandon Sweeney loomed large as he hit a slow chopper to the shortstop and beat out the throw across the diamond for an RBI infield single to plate Elliot Conlon; Alpine scored twice on the play when an errant throw to first allowed Weiss to score from second. Oli Coupe then singled home Brandon Sweeney. After Coupe moved up on a wild pitch, Scott singled him home to make it 5-0.

In the third, Alpine added three more runs courtesy of a two-out rally. Weiss got the line moving with a two-out single. After Weiss stole second, Brandon Sweeney singled him home. Coupe followed with an RBI single back through the middle to make it 8-0.

In the fourth, Alpine surpassed the 10-run mercy-rule threshold. Amit Garg and Kaden Gross led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Weiss then delivered a two-run single to make it 10-0. After a wild pitch, Brandon Sweeney singled home Weiss, and Coupe drove home Weiss to up the lead to 12-0.

“The home runs and the balls off the fences are nice, and we’ve had our share of those,” Ryan Sweeney said. “But you’ve got to put the ball in play. That’s when you put the pressure on the defense, when you put the ball in play. And these guys do a great job of that. We try to avoid strikeouts at all costs and just make things happen.”

Brandon Sweeney and Scott each stayed within the 35-pitch limit allowing each of them to return on two days’ rest. That means both will be available for Sunday’s championship round. And each said they will be ready to throw.

“I feel great,” Brandon Sweeney said. “We’ve got to give them our best.”

The championship round opens Sunday at Ford Field at 10 a.m. Alpine must be defeated twice to be denied the championship. The if-needed game would be played Monday at Ford Field at 5 p.m.