Heartbreaker for Alpine in District 52 11-12s finale

Simultaneously, there was quiet from the first-base side of the concourse where the Alpine fans were seated. More so, an excruciating moment played out on the diamond as third baseman Matthew Majalya stood alone on the left side of the diamond, Alpine’s other three infielders gathering on the opposite side of second base while manager Colin Cahill made his way to the pitcher’s mound to remove starting pitcher Tim Harrick from the game.

One at-bat prior to Church’s grand slam, Majalya committed an error on a groundball smash off the bat Bennett Simon. And as Cahill was taking the ball from Harrick, Majalya approached his teammate with the most excruciating expression of apology on his face.

“He said: ‘That was a hundred percent my fault,’” Harrick said, “which I immediately said: ‘No it wasn’t. That was a hard hit ball, it just got past you.’ He takes so much of the blame himself, and that’s such a selfless thing to do. But it wasn’t his fault at all.”

Harrick pitched valiantly in the District 52 tourney. He made three appearances, including a winning decision in his first start June 27 in Alpine’s 6-4 win over San Mateo American, knocking American into the elimination bracket.

In his second turn facing American, Harrick worked 3 2/3 innings, surrendering six runs, but only two were earned. All four runs on Church’s game-changing grand slam were unearned following the error at third base with two outs.

But one of the reasons Harrick enjoyed a strong effort through the opening three innings was because of a third-inning defensive gem by Majalya. American had the bases loaded with one out when American second baseman Cooper Hipps stepped to the plate. Hipps had already cashed in on one bases-loaded opportunity with a two-out, two-run single in the first inning.

In the third, Hipps nearly came through again, topping a grounder to the left side of the infield. But Majalya stole his thunder, ranging left and gloving the ball before it could bleed into left field. As he did so, Majalya tumbled to the infield dirt, but was able to roll onto the seat of his pants and from the seated position make an accurate throw to home plate to cut down the lead runner.

American never scored in that third inning.

“He just laid out and stopped it, and then he had the awareness to see that the guy from third wasn’t all the way home yet,” Harrick said. “And he just fired and he got the out.”

It was a play Harrick said he’s never seen on a Little League diamond. The only other comparison he could muster was one from the big leagues.

“No, it’s kind of like me watching Fernando Tatis at shortstop on the seat of his pants making a throw,” Harrick said.

Majalya also went 2 for 3 at the plate and drove in Alpine’s only run of the game with an RBI single in the third to score Fletcher Cahill.

Following the postgame awards ceremony, among the many emotional Alpine players, Harrick agreed to an interview with a teardrop still lingering in his eye. The 12-year-old did something that even his manager said he was reluctant to do in fielding some questions following a tough defeat.

Harrick even owned up to the teardrop and put into perspective what it means to win or lose an elimination game. At the heart of these highly competitive tournaments — the first round of the long road to South Williamsport, with a chance to advance toward the Little League World Series starting Aug. 19 — what hits home the most is when a kid just wants to play ball with his friends for one more day.

“It’s just this team has been such a dream to play for and all these friends that I’ve met, they’re going to help me throughout my life,” Harrick said. “And to see it go down in such a rough game, it’s pretty tough. … But I’ll see these people again, and I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”