Belmont-Redwood Shores tearing it up in District 52 12s tourney

Then the BRS bats woke up with an unlikely spark on a two-run home run by Jeremy Yam.

“Oh my God, it was insane because that was his first home run in Little League,” Belmont-Redwood Shores manager Ernie Chan said. “And the coaches were talking about having him bunt when he was coming up to the plate, and sure enough he didn’t, and that’s what happened.”

Yam came through after a long at-bat, stepping to the plate with one on and two outs before working the count full. Then the right-handed hitter more known for his speed than his power belted a booming shot to left field to stake BRS to a 5-4 lead.

They have yet to trail again in the tourney.

“The bats did wake up,” Ernie Chan said. “And hopefully we can keep it going.”

After getting knocked out of the District 52 11s tournament last year in the elimination bracket semifinals, BRS entered this year’s tournament champing at the bit.

“We had a really great run,” Ernie Chan said. “It was our first experience having done it and this year we’re just hungry to see what the team can do.”

Then come opening day, they had to continue to champ when the game prior to theirs between Pacifica National and Redwood City ran long, pushing the start time back one hour for the Foster City and BRS matchup.

“It was just a long wait to get to it,” Ernie Chan said. “A lot of anticipation, nervous energy … and we just could not wait to play. There were butterflies in everyone’s stomachs, including the coaches … and then finally getting out there, it was really nerve-racking.”

When BRS finally did hit the field, it wasn’t just the bats that went cold, but also the defense. While Shinseki struck out seven through four innings, he got touched for four unearned runs.

Yam’s home run started a landslide of offense though. Alex Jordan also homered in the game and has gone deep twice in the tournament, also homering Sunday in a 15-5 victory over Menlo-Atherton.

“We’ve gotten contributions from up and down the lineup,” Ernie Chan said.

BRS jumped ahead early against Menlo-Atherton, batting around in a six-run bottom of the first. Lucas Chan led off with a single to center before Jack Lang and Shinseki worked back-to-back walks to load the bases. Then a barrage of wild pitches and M-A errors put BRS on the board.

Nathan Tuan followed with an infield single on a hard-hit ball to the left side. Later in the inning, Yam finally did unleash a bunt, driving home Tuan.

BRS indeed got production up and down the lineup. Tuan went 2 for 3 with three RBIs; Jordan was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a two-run home run in the third; and Shinseki went 1 for 1 with three walks and scored four runs, one for each of his plate appearances.

Lucas Ateya pitched an inning of relief in both games. Lang served as Sunday’s starter, totaling three innings to earn the win.

“We kind of had a feeling this year we’d be able to keep [last year’s run] going,” Ernie Chan said. “And it’s kind of happened.”

Advancing through the winners’ bracket, BRS next plays Thursday against Pacifica National at Middlefield Ballpark at 4 p.m. Thursday’s nightcap at 6:30 p.m. pits San Carlos against Hillsborough. Thursday’s two winning teams will meet in Sunday’s semifinals for a trip through the winners’ bracket to the championship round.

In Tuesday’s elimination games, San Mateo American topped Half Moon Bay 14-1, while Palo Alto ousted Redwood City 11-1. On Monday, Alpine eliminated Pacifica American with a 13-2 win.