Bruised but not beaten: Alpine rallies in final at-bat to win West Region opener

Or, as teammate Patrick Breslin describes him: “Insanely clutch.”

Breslin would know, as he was the on-deck hitter when Levinson stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning during a tie game in Saturday’s West Region opener against Arizona state champion Arcadia Little League. Levinson promptly delivered Alpine to a 5-1 victory, jumping on the first pitch he saw to sail a sinking line drive to right field that cleared the bases.

As if his insanely clutch swing of the bat wasn’t loud enough, Levinson and Breslin shared a high-five during the ensuing timeout that resounded through the Little League Western Region Complex like a thunderclap.

“Yeah, me and him were very hyped after those hits,” Breslin said. “Yeah, we were just hyped for our team and knowing we can move on to the next round.”

Levinson’s heroics were only possible because of thunderclaps of a different kind.

Enter the Bruise Brothers, Garrett Weiss and Jack Chambers, both of whom got hit by pitches in the top of the sixth inning to not only help set the table for Levinson, but helped turn over the batting order when Alpine’s most potent bat was due up seventh in the inning.

It seemed the unlikeliest of rallies after Alpine was held scoreless by Arcadia starting pitcher Max Sapik through the first five innings. Not that Alpine didn’t have some early chances.

Said Alpine manager Dave Levinson: “We kind of felt like: ‘We’ve been throwing punches, it hasn’t been coming together — like, what do we have to do?’”

Nolan Levinson set the table to start the game, drawing a four-pitch walk. Then Arcadia shortstop Andrew Wachinski put his stamp on the game, robbing Breslin of a single with a rangy dive over the middle to nab a sharp grounder and toss to second for the force out.

Wachinski was in the middle of several key defensive plays, including the second inning when Alpine was on the verge of drawing first blood. With a runner on first, Weiss hammered a double deep into the left-center power alley.

“I had one swing and miss, and I knew it was coming right to me,” Weiss said. “So, I just swung hard and hit it right in the gap.”

It would have been a standing RBI triple, but a miscommunication saw the lead runner hold at third despite Dave Levinson, the third-base coach, in full-on windmill mode. Wachinski took the relay throw and smartly delivered it to the catcher, who ran the lead runner back to the base until there were two Alpine players at third for a gimme out.

“I saw coach waving, telling me to go,” Weiss said. “So, I was just head down, going to third. As soon as I got there, I just saw [the lead runner].”

From there, Sapik settled into a groove, setting down 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.

Alpine, however, countered with its two-headed monster of Nolan Levinson and Max Turner. The two lanky right-handers have worked piggyback assignments consistently this summer, especially with Alpine treating Levinson more like an opener for many of his starts.

Of Alpine’s 12 games this summer, Nolan Levinson has started nine of them on the mound, including four in a row. In staying under 35 pitches Saturday through 2 1/3 innings of work, he will be available to make his fifth straight start when Alpine takes the field Monday. It’s certainly proven an effective strategy so far, as Alpine has racked up three championship banners (District 52, Section 3, and Nor Cal) and now owns an unbeaten 12-0 record.

“I pitched a lot the whole year, and we’re keeping it going now, and it’s working out for us,” Nolan Levinson said. “Until we lose one, our strategy’s still working. Now, I get to pitch almost every game and I get through the top of their order. I think that’s a good strategy.”

Nolan Levinson navigated a two-on, one-out jam in the first by striking out the side. Then, to start the second inning, he got some serious help from Breslin at shortstop, who took a hit away from his opposite number, Wachinski, by dancing over the middle on a slow two-hopper to glove on the run and throw a strike across the diamond with a pirouette release.

“I knew he was going to make the play,” said Weiss, Alpine’s second baseman. “He’s made better plays but, yeah, it was pretty good.”

Tuner entered in relief with one out in the third inning, and finished off two scoreless frames to send the tremendous pitching duel into the fifth deadlocked at nil. But in the bottom of the fifth, Arcadia finally broke through.

Wachinski led off with a hard grounder that was mishandled by the Alpine infield, but scored a hit. Turner bounced back with a strikeout, then induced a high hopper in front of home plate, which he fielded himself for the putout. It moved Wachinski into scoring position, though. And after Turner got ahead of Cannon Olmstead with two quick strikes, Olmstead rocketed the 0-2 offering up the left-center gap to drive home Wachinski with the game’s first run.

As Alpine returned to the dugout with just three outs standing between its pristine winning streak and a first-round trip to the elimination bracket.

“They looked down,” Dave Levinson said. “They looked a little sad. And I think, obviously it’s a big stage, you want to win ... and we know if you lose one, it’s tough to come back.”

With Sapik having thrown 70 pitches, Arcadia turned to its bullpen. The first pitch was a heat-seeker that blasted Weiss on the side of the knee and immediately dropped him to the ground. He remained in the game, and quickly put his knee to the test as Bodhi Bedner singled to center with a hard, one-hop liner directly at the center fielder. It would have turned into a force out at second if Weiss didn’t read it immediately off the bat.

A passed ball moved both runners up, which loomed large as Simeon Ouellette-Massiou followed with a towering infield popup. Had the runners still been at first and second, it would have been an infield fly, but with no force play in order, the ball dropped, and Ouellette-Massiou reached on the error to load the bases.

Then Alpine cashed in on a little old-fashioned luck when Teddy Hourigan lifted a fly ball to right field. Off the bat, Weiss broke home, all but ruining his chance to tag up as the fielder threw to the plate. As Weiss hurried back to third, however, the outfielder’s throw sailed to the backstop, enabling Weiss to race home with the tying run.

With two on and two out, Chambers, the No. 12 batter, stepped to the plate. Another heat-seeking fastball, this time a direct hit in the small of the back, loaded the bases. But when Nolan Levinson followed with a single that got past the outfielder, Chambers had no problem scoring all the way from first base.

“First I thought it was a line out, maybe,” Chambers said, “but ... it was two outs, so I was just running no matter what. Then I saw it take a bounce and I saw it go past him. So, I was just sprinting as hard as I can. And then I saw Coach Dave violently sending me, and I was like: ‘I’ve got to get this.’”

Breslin followed with an RBI double to left field to score Nolan Levinson with an insurance run. Breslin finished with two of Alpine’s five hits.

Turner closed it out in the bottom of the sixth, navigating a two-out single by William Clancy. The Alpine reliever worked 3 2/3 innings to earn the win, allowing one run on three hits and four walks, while striking out two.

Alpine now advances through the winners’ bracket of the four-team, double-elimination tournament to face Hawaii state champion Honolulu in the semifinal round. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. Honolulu advanced with a 1-0 win Saturday over Southern California champion Sweetwater Valley. Arcadia falls to the elimination bracket to face Sweetwater Valley, Monday, at 9 a.m.