Alpine set to open Section 3 All-Stars baseball play at Middlefield Ballpark

When a winner was at long last declared, it was supposed to mark the end of Friday’s practice — or so Alpine manager Dave Levinson thought. Instead, his players pushed back, insisting they stay later to take additional rounds of batting practice to prepare for Saturday’s Section 3 opener against District 14 champion Newark scheduled for 4 p.m. at Middlefield Ballpark in Palo Alto.

“I said: ‘I think, yeah, we’re ready to play,’” Levinson said.

They sure are. In being crowned their league’s first District 52 12s champion since 2001, Alpine ran the table in the tournament with a 4-0 record, outscoring opponents 34-8.

Alpine now advances to the four-team section tournament, with District 57 champion Bollinger Canyon and District 45 champion San Lorenzo also in the field. Big right-hander Nolan Levinson is set to take the hill Saturday against Newark. Alpine’s ace made two starts in the District 52 tournament, posting a 2-0 record while allowing a cumulative no earned runs on two hits through nine innings, walking three while striking out 21.

“No question they’re confident,” Dave Levinson said. “Especially at this age, he’s so big. ... Obviously, some of the kids really start to grow around this time ... and the kids that are big, are really big. ... So, it definitely gives them a lot of confidence. And they’ve seen him pitch a lot over the years. And everybody is super tight on the team. It’s a great vibe.”

The democratic vibe that led to Friday’s practice being extended for extra BP also extends to the Section 3 venue. The tourney will be played at Palo Alto Little League’s home yard of Middlefield Ballpark, instead of Alpine’s home Ford Field in Portola Valley.

With District 52 slated to host the Section 3 12s tournament this summer, whichever team won the district championship had home-field rights. Dave Levinson said the initial plan was to host the section tournament at Ford Field, but when his players caught wind of this following their District 52 run July 1 with a 6-4 victory over San Mateo American at Middlefield, they had other ideas.

“The kids were like: ‘What are you talking about?” Dave Levinson said. “‘We love Middlefield! We Just won there!’ ... The kids were really unanimous.”

Logically, Middlefield makes more sense. There is more room for seating down the base paths, and there is much more parking available in the adjacent lots of Mitchell Park and the Mitchell Park Library.

“Ford is very limited in parking ... and there’s not great overflow,” District 52 administrator Jono Gibbs said, “whereas Middlefield, you have the park right there, and there’s tons of overflow parking.”

Alpine will field the same 12-player roster as they did in the District 52 tournament. District 52 has a strong track record in recent years in section play, winning four of the last five Section 3 tournaments dating back to 2019. The lone exception during that span came in 2023 when District 57’s Bollinger Canyon won the title. Last year, San Mateo American claimed the Section 3 banner.

“At this point, all these kids have played travel ball and have played against one another,” Dave Levinson said. “So, there’s a familiarity. ... We feel like the teams are going to be good but, at the same time, we feel like we’re battle-tested. ... We feel like we can compete at this tournament.”

The Section 3 12s championship round begins Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. An if-necessary game is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

All games at Middlefield Ballpark can be viewed at watch.yourgamecam.com/?facility=pall via free webstream.

Alpine also won the District 52 10s championship, and will play in the Section 3 10s tournament, opening Saturday in Union City at Veterans Memorial Park.

The Section 3 11s tournament opens Saturday in San Ramon at San Ramon Valley Little League. District 52 champion San Mateo National opens play against District 14 at 3 p.m.