Defense looms large in San Mateo American’s 1-0 games

While Connor Workman took the loss on the mound with two-thirds innings of work in the seventh, American probably wouldn’t have gotten to extra innings had it not been for his three quality plays at shortstop. And catcher Matthew Ward — who pitched a shutout the previous night to propel American to Wednesday’s if-necessary game — made two clutch plays behind the plate in the fourth inning.

“They played great,” O’Brien said.

The highlight plays started early with a rangy play at short:

• Workman in the second took a hit away from Connor Jones for the final out of the inning. Jones rapped a hard two-hopper into the hole, but Workman ranged to make a high backhand and deliver a smooth bullet across the diamond on the mark to first baseman Maddox Stone. The play sealed the second straight 1-2-3 inning for O’Brien, who set down the first seven batters he faced.

• Workman in the fourth gobbled up a hard roller off the bat of George Krause to start the inning. The ball was smashed right at the shortstop, but was still hit hard enough to add a high degree of difficulty. Workman’s smooth hands and accurate throw made the play seem routine.

• Ward in the fourth made two big-time plays behind the plate. With one out, Keenan Sartipi hit a nubber in front of home, but Ward showed pop time isn’t just a throwing virtue, as he pounced on the ball, pivoted and gunned out Sartipi on a close play at first. Then with two outs, O’Brien notched a strikeout with a big breaking curveball in the dirt. Ward wasn’t able to block the ball, but aggressively chased it to the backstop, wheeled around, and made a long throw to the outside of the bag on a bang-bang play for the third out of the inning.

“I usually don’t throw my curveball in the dirt but Matthew Ward blocked the ball and got the out at first that got me really pumped up,” O’Brien said.

• Workman in the sixth made another rangy play, this time on a popup into short left field. O’Brien was in the midst of setting down 10 straight batters, and not only would the flare off the bat of Jack Hanson have cut that streak short, it could have given Danville its only leadoff base runner of the game. Instead, Workman sprinted toward the left-field line and made a textbook play, running to the spot of the ball, calling for it as he planted his feet, and made a smooth two-handed catch.

• Third baseman William Meza in the seventh prevented another leadoff base runner by taking away a bunt single from Xon Burris. Meza charged hard on the good bunt, and made a perfect throw to retire the speedy Burris. Meza nearly made a similar play in the sixth inning, covering a swinging bunt down the third-base line off the bat of Griffin Fitzgibbon. Meza went into a knee slide and fielded the ball cleanly, and looked to have a window to make a timely throw had the ball not rolled foul just before he gloved it.

• Second baseman Chase Gordon in the seventh. Yes, even though a hard grounder off the bat of Sartipi to the second baseman’s backhand was misplayed for an error that opened the door for Danville’s Owen Beck to deliver the two-out, game-winning double on the ensuing at-bat. Gordon, however, made the play properly, knocking down the grounder with his backhand, keeping it in front of him, and throwing to second to nearly get the lead runner, Krause, who was safe by an eyelash with a feet-first slide.

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Extra innings were the norm not just in the 11s tournament, but throughout Section 3 play in general. All three of this week’s deciding championship games — in the 10s, 11s and 12s tourneys — were decided in extra innings. Heck, Section 3 10s champion Dublin played five extra-inning games this All-Stars season, two in the District 57 tournament, and three more in sectionals.

Both American’s games in the Section 3 championship round went to extra innings, beginning with a 1-0 win in the seventh over Danville in Tuesday’s championship-round opener.

“It was exactly the same game,” San Mateo American manager Jason Gordon said after Wednesday’s 1-0 loss. “They made the little hiccup last night, and we did it tonight.”

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The new continuous batting rule certainly gave an advantage to pitchers this postseason, as it not only cut down on at-bats by teams’ best hitters at the top and in the middle of the batting order, but it also disrupted the natural flow teams have long relied upon in turning over batting orders.

“It’s rough,” Jason Gordon said. “There’s no doubt it’s why these games are so low scoring. It’s really hard to get your top hitters back up. You keep looking at your lineup card, and their lineup card, saying: ‘Where are they? How long is it going to take to get back to the top of the order?’”

Through seven innings Wednesday, American got through its lineup exactly three times. Sure, if we’re talking Major League Baseball, three times through the order in seven innings is the norm for a shutout. But for 11-year-olds, in a game where American had four hits, six walks, two hit batsmen, and left an excruciating 15 runners on base, seeing your leadoff hitter bat just three times seems mathematically improbable. Well, it isn’t. It’s merely a cause of continuous batting.

Hey, Danville was on pace to not even complete a second turn through the batting order when its No. 10 hitter made the second out in the bottom of the seventh. The only reason Beck got a third at-bat was because the No. 11 hitter Krause singled and the No. 12 batter Sartipi reached via error.

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San Mateo American’s 11s roster also included: Christopher Moreno, Hudson Wong, Milo Werner, Pono Rosenberg, Joe Biancalana and Carter Weyer. The coaching staff included Dan Workman and John Stone.