Boys (and girls) of summer take over

First pitch for the Minors Superbowl is 5 p.m., first pitch for the Majors Superbowl is 6 p.m.

The marquee division in the regular all-start tournament is the Majors, also referred to as the “12s” bracket, and the road to the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania begins in Palo Alto at Middlefield Ball Park. Four games, starting at 10 a.m., kick off the tournament Saturday — Foster City-Pacifica at 10 a.m., Belmont-Half Moon Bay at 12:30 p.m., Redwood City-Alpine at 3 p.m. and San Carlos-San Mateo American capping the day at 5:30 p.m.

After a day off Sunday, play resumes Monday with San Mateo National and Menlo-Atherton, which had first-round byes, opening play. Hillsborough and Palo Alto also had byes and will be off until Tuesday.

The Majors tournament championship series is slated to begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 30.

The 10s tournament is hosted by San Mateo American with games being played at Trinta Park. Like the 12s, it’s all-day ball Saturday, with Belmont and Half Moon Bay opening the festivities at 9 a.m. Hillsborough-Pacifica at noon, Foster City-San Mateo National at 3 p.m. and Redwood City-Alpine at 5:30.

Menlo-Atherton and Palo Alto had first-round byes and are off until Monday, with San Carlos and San Mateo American also getting byes and finally taking the field Tuesday.

The 10s championship series is slated to start 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 29.

The 11s tournament is hosted by Foster City at Sea Cloud Park with Foster City and San Mateo National opening play at 10 a.m. Saturday. That is followed by San Mateo American-Hillsborough at 12:30 p.m.; Redwood City-Pacifica at 3 p.m. and Half Moon Bay-Belmont at 5:30 p.m.

Alpine and San Carlos begin play Monday, while Palo Alto and Menlo-Atherton will play winner-bracket games Tuesday.

Game 1 of the championship series is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 1.

The 13s bracket, or “Juniors” begins Saturday with Half Moon Bay High School hosting the seven-team tournament, with games at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. The championship series begins at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 27, with an if-necessary game scheduled for Sunday, June 28.

Palo Alto and San Carlos will play for the District 52 16s “Seniors,” title, with the best-of-three tournament beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Baylands Ball Park in Palo Alto. Game 2 moves to Sequoia High School for a 10 a.m. start Saturday. Sequoia will host a Game 3 at 5:30 p.m. Monday, June 22 if necessary.

***

Tuesday’s World Cup slate featured three of the biggest soccer stars in the world and they all lived up to their lofty expectations.

Even casual soccer fans know the names: Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi. All three delivered on the days on which they were playing, much to the relief of FOX Sports, which had hyped Tuesday’s matches since Friday.

The day opened with France taking on Senegal. After a lackluster opening 45 minutes, Mbappé came alive as France grabbed a 3-1 win. In the 66th minute, he made a quick dash into space in the penalty box, taking a pass, quickly turning and shooting into the far left corner. In stoppage time, he added the goal of the match, a banger from 35 yards out into the upper left “V.”

Mbappé, in his third World Cup, is tied for fourth on the all-time goals list. He and Germany’s Gerd Müller have 14.

Not to be outdone, Haaaland, Manchester City’s goal-scoring machine, lit up the game’s second game with a brace of his own. The “Terminator” led Norway into its first World Cup since 1998 and scored twice in a 4-1 win over Iraq.

He showed off his finishing prowess on his first goal in the 29th minute, sliding home a cross at the far right post. He added his second just before halftime, chasing down a weak back pass to the Iraq goalkeeper, winning a 50-50 ball and putting it in the back of the net.

But those were just appetizers for the nightcap’s main course as Argentine legend Messi, appearing in his sixth World Cup, simply added to his sparkling resume. He one-upped both Mbappé and Haaland, bagging a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Algeria as Argentina opened defense of its 2022 World Cup title.

Messi actually found the back of the net four times, the first in the opening minutes being wiped away because of offsides. But it was mere moments later that he opened his scoring account in the 17th minute, receiving a pass in the middle of the field and drove on goal before launching a left-footed laser from 22 yards out into the upper right corner.

His second, much like Haaland’s, was a case of being in the right spot at the right time. The Algeria goalkeeper could not cleanly handle an initial shot and Messi, who was crashing the goal, cleaned up the rebound in the 60th minute.

He capped his night by tying the record for most World Cup goals as he scored career No. 16 tying him with Germany’s Miroslav Klose for the World Cup lead. He received a square pass at the top of the penalty box, took a touch into space to his left and then slipped a shot inside the left post to complete the hatty with 14 minutes left in regulation time.

Nathan Mollat has been covering high school sports in San Mateo County for the San Mateo Daily Journal since 2001. He can be reached by email: nathan@smdailyjournal.com.