Half Moon Bay Cougars claim Nor Cal baseball championship

“I think I've been dreaming for weeks,” said HMB manager Brian Anderson, as the Cougars finished the season on a 15-game winning streak.

“With all the support (from the Half Moon Bay fans), it's been like 'Field of Dreams.'”

Half Moon Bay (23-9), the top seed, used a tired-and-true formula to beat second-seeded Livermore (12-19) — another outstanding starting pitching performance from recently graduated Kai Kung, an offense driven by junior shortstop Riley Jackson and the emergence of sophomore Paxton Holden as a shutdown pitcher.

All three were on display Saturday. Kung was making his third start in eight days and he simply added to his legacy. He pitched five more scoreless innings against the Cowboys as he ended his high school career with 24 1/3 scoreless innings, going 4-0 in four playoff starts. Saturday was the fourth straight shutout for the Cougars' pitching staff.

Jackson supplied a bulk of the offense, going 3 for 4 with a homer, double, an RBI and scored both Cougars' runs. And then there was Holden, who transitioned into the starting rotation as the Cougars embarked on their winning streak, culminating with two scoreless innnings of relief to lockdown the save.

The Cougars' pitching performance during that run also coincided with the HMB coaching staff turning over pitch-calling duties to sophomore catcher Jacob Couto. He had a front-row seat to the pitching performances of both Kung and Holden.

“I enjoyed it a lot. … It's been such an experience,” Couto said. “[Kung] executes perfectly and Paxton, I've been catching him my whole life.”

'MadKung'

But Kung got off to a rocky start and his scoreless innning streak was in jeopardy in the very first inning. He had a 1-2 count on Livermore leadoff hitter Griffin Lee before he smoked the fourth pitch of the game to the left-center field power alley for a leadoff double.

Kung admitted he was a bit stunned and worried.

“That was left up. It was a mistake. I was a little (nervous) on the mound. I was like, 'Oh damn. He just drilled a double and he's the leadoff guy?'” Kung said.

Added Anderson: “Seemed [Kung] was a little amped up.”

But like the old saying goes, if you go after the king, or this case Kung, you best not miss.

After that double, Kung got a strikeout to bring up Livermore pitcher Braden Ford, a UC Santa Barbara commit who has been on fire at the plate recently. He had hit three home runs in his previous two games, including a pair in a 13-5 semifinal win over Immanuel-Reedley Thursday.

“We don't play [North Coast Section] teams, so we knew nothing about them — other than numbers put on MaxPreps. We saw that he had three homers in his last two games. But with a bag open (at first base), it was a no-brainer. Why mess with it?”

Ford was intentionally walked to bring up cleanup hitter, Dylan Wherry, who singled to left to load the bases with one out.

But the Cowboys were unable to push a runner across the plate. Kung got a foul out to Alex Ryan at first base for the second out of the inning and then got out of the jam on a groundball fielder's choice.

When Kung retired the side in order in the second, it was clear he was locked in. While he did walk two, he did not allow another hit until the fifth inning and the Cowboys did not have a runner reach second base for the rest of the game as Kung finished with five strikeouts.

“I knew if I got out of that (first inning without giving up a run), we'd be good,” Kung said.

Kung reached his innings limit after his defense turned a double play to end the top of the fifth inning. As Kung came off the field to a standing ovation, he was greeted by hugs from teammates and coaches and you could see the emotion on his face.

Just before dipping into the dugout, he tipped his cap to the appreciative crowd.

“He is literally unstoppable,” Jackson said of Kung. “I've never been part of a team with someone so dominant.”

Taking advantage

The Half Moon Bay offense, on the other, did what Livermore could not: take advantage of a scoring opportunity. In the bottom of the first, the Cougars scored the only run they would need and not surprisingly, it was Jackson who jump-started the rally with a leadoff single to right.

Anderson stuck to his script with No. 2 hitter Ian Ehrhardt, who put down his 11th sacrifice bunt of the season to move Jackson into scoring position.

Holden followed with a with a bloop single on the infield to put runners on the corners, before swiping second to put runners on second and third.

Cleanup hitter Clark Colucci followed and got the job done. In a two-strike hole, Colucci fouled off three pitches before lofting a flyball to left field that was deep enough to score Jackson and give Half Moon Bay a 1-0 lead.

“(Ford was hitting) 90 on the gun, so we pumped it up at practice on the pitching machine,” Anderson said. “He pitched on Thursday. … We just wanted to blow up his pitch count and get him out of there. Battle, battle, battle.”

Ford, however, settled in after that. He retired the side in order in the second inning and then got some help in the third, as Jackson was tagged out after getting in a run-down between third base and home plate. His wide turn at third on a Holden single to left put him in no-man's land as the relay backdoored Jackson.

Jackson had a hustle double to put himself in scoring position.

The Cougars missed out on another scoring opportunity in the fourth as Tristan Castro reached first after being hit by a pitch with one out. He went to second on Cole Giannini's two-out, sneak-attack bunt single, but a groundout ended the inning and both runners were stranded.

Insurance homer

In the fifth, the Cougars got some breathing room. With Ford being lifted after four innings of work, Jackson gave the reliever a rude welcome. After taking a first-pitch strike, Jackson unloaded on the next offering, sending it over the fence in right-center field to the spark delirium among the standing-room only Half Moon Bay crowd to give the Cougars a 2-0 lead.

“Blacked out. I don't remember a thing,” Jackson said.

Said Kung of Jackson: “He's … unbelievable. He is the best player I've ever played with, no offense to anyone.”

From there, it was time for Holden to take over as he becomes the heir apparent to become the next Half Moon Bay star. Already the starting quarterback for the Cougars football team, Holden is all but assured a top spot in the rotation next season as he pitched two dominant innings of relief.

Kung, who said he wished he could have finished what he started, said he knew the game was in good hands with Holden on the mound.

“I'd have loved to finish. But I knew the arms are fresh behind me,” Kung said.

Holden, who pitched 4 1/3 innings in the Cougars' 10-0, mercy-rule semifinal win over West Valley-Shasta County Thursday, showed no ill effects. He retired the side in order in the sixth and after a single from Erik Schock to lead off the seventh, Holden struck out the next three batters to end the game and set off the celebration.

“We played little ball (for our first run) and then played big ball,” said Anderson.

Jackson then went back to well, repeating what he told reporters following Tuesday' first-round Nor Cal win.

“This has been the best month of baseball in my life,” Jackson said. “(Winning a Nor Cal title) is the cherry on top.”