District 52 Little League All-Stars 12s roundup

Hillsborough advanced through the winners’ bracket thanks to scoring three runs in extra-innings in a marathon eight-inning victory over Pacifica.

With the game tied 2-2 at the end of regulation, Hillsborough scored twice in the top of the seventh when Jeremy Pak scored on a passed ball and Kenny Stroud scored on a wild pitch. But Pacifica matched the rally with two runs in the bottom of the inning, with Liam Lyons scoring on an error to make it 4-4. With international tiebreaker rules in effect in the eighth, Ryan O’Connor lifted a sacrifice fly to score Will Glasser from third.

Then Glaser pitched a scoreless eighth, thanks largely to an unorthodox double play on a comeback grounder. Glasser threw to first baseman Jackson Guglielmi for the first out then, with the Pacifica baserunner taking off for third, Guglielmi fired across the diamond to Stroud to complete to double play. One more Pacifica batter reached on asingle and moved to second on a wild pitch, but Glasser notched the game-ending strikeout to preserve the victory.

Hillsborough had a first-round bye and was playing in its first game of the tournament. They now advance to the winners’ bracket quarterfinals to meet San Mateo American at Middlefield Ballpark, Wednesday, at 4 p.m.

Pacifica was playing in its second game of the tourney, and now falls to the elimination bracket to face Foster City, Monday, at 4 p.m.

Alpine 13, San Carlos 11

Leading 13-4 heading into the sixth and final inning, Alpine staved off disaster as San Carlos rallied for seven runs in its final at-bat.

Relief pitcher Roman Trujillo nailed down the victory, entering after San Carlos slugger Austin Perna hammered a two-out grand slam home run to center field to make it 13-11. Trujillo pitched through a Wren Pitstick single and a walk to Jesse Pinelli by recording the game-ending strikeout and stranding the potential tying runs on base.

Alpine jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and kept adding on, scoring six in the third, three in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Trujilo, JR Brock and Grant Bochnowski paced Alpine with two hits apiece, while Blake Budelli socked a home run and totaled three RBIs. Charlie Fisher led San Carlos with three hits and added three RBIs, and James Kauffman went 2 for 3 with a home run.

Alpine advances through the winners’ bracket to face Menlo-Atherton at Middlefield Ballpark, Wednesday, at 6:30 p.m.

San Carlos will face Redwood City in an elimination game Tuesday at 6 :30 p.m.

Menlo-Atherton 5, San Mateo National 3

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Menlo-Atherton rallied for four runs in the inning to win its opener in the District 52 All-Stars 12s tournament over San Mateo National.

Jack Stoffel sparked the comeback rally with a leadoff single. Then Jack Brubacher clubbed a big two-run home run to center field to tie it 3-3. Elliot Lee followed with a one-out single, and later came around to score when Luca Fagnini reached on an infield error to give Menlo-Atherton the lead. Fagnini then scored with two outs when Henry Liu reached on an error to cap the scoring.

Relief pitcher Nathan Siegel earned the win, firing three shutout innings of one-hit ball while striking out four. Brubacher closed it out with 1 1/3 innings of work, going four up and four down to earn the save.

Stoffel and Bryce Gilmartin recorded two hits apiece for Menlo-Atherton. San Mateo National totaled three hits, with singles from Dylan Lee, Kai Snyder and Peter Cruz.

Menlo-Atherton advances through the winners’ bracket to face Alpine at Middlefield Ballpark, Wednesday, at 6:30 p.m.

National will face Palo Alto in an elimination game Tuesday at 4 p.m.