Ks rule the day; San Mateo American 12s All-Stars into Nor Cal title round

American came from behind yet again to score an 8-4 victory, knocking out North Natomas Wednesday night at Rocklin’s Tri-City Little League Park. And right-handers RJ Church and Leo Rhein were the showstoppers. Of the 18 outs American’s pitching duo recorded, 17 were by way of strikeout.

“I’ve seen it in a smaller spectrum of things as far as Little League play (in the regular season),” San Mateo American manager Steve Church said. “As far as this stage … it’s impressive.”

Steve Church is referring to the regular-season Pirates team he managed that boasted a one-two pitching punch of RJ Church and Rhein. But, while the duo was tough to hit Wednesday, each had to navigate some perilous innings to reach the finish line.

North Natomas jumped on RJ Church early. The right-hander — who pitched in Saturday’s tournament opener, an 11-1 loss to Cambrian Park — struggled to get a feel for his off-speed stuff, and North Natomas No. 3 hitter Cruise Cole took advantage by drilling a two-run home run to make it 2-0.

“It kind of started out a little bit shaky with the off-speed pitches,” RJ Church said. “But once I got settled in through the night, it started to feel a lot better.”

It certainly looked that way. RJ Church bounced back to notch back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. Finding the handle on his two off-speed offering helped. But the right-hander said it was his team’s ability to score runs in a hurry that helped him settle down.

“I knew my team was a good hitting and defensive team, so I knew they would be able to pick me up after that first inning, which they did,” RJ Church said. “So, I just knew I had to throw strikes and they’d be able to help me out.”

American rewarded their starting pitcher with a quick 6-spot in the bottom of the first. Despite sending 10 batters to the plate in the first, American produced just one hit, a two-run double by Rhein to take a 5-2 lead. Prior to that, American drew three walks followed by back-to-back RBI hit batsmen.

Cooper Hipps — a gritty infielder who isn’t showy, but always seems to be in the mix at the big moments, and big emotional swings — wore a pitch with the bases loaded to push the first run across.

“Cooper is an all-business type guy where he’s out there and he’ll do the little things,” Steve Church said. “It’s one of those things, he does it all, he does it all well, and if there’s one guy … that’s the guy you want up at the plate for sure.”

Julio Calderon got hit by a pitch to tie it. Kurtis Lee then raced across the plate with the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

North Natomas got a run back in the top of the second, but American again answered right back with a two-run double by Calderon.

RJ Church departed in the fifth after surrendering back-to-back walks to start the frame, making way for Rhein. But it took the right-handed reliever a few batters to settle in. He walked two straight batters to force in a run, cutting the lead to 8-4. But Rhein battled back to finish the inning with two straight strikeouts.

“He just had his teammates around that just kept picking him up,” Steve Church said. “And we had a sizable lead that should allow you to be comfortable in those kinds of spots. … Leo is a tough guy. He’s mentally tough. And I can say that about all my players. That’s one of our strengths.”

Rhein made quick work of North Natomas in the sixth to close out the win, retiring the side in order on three straight strikeouts.

American now advances to the Nor Cal championship round beginning Thursday, where they will face Petaluma at 6:30 p.m. Petaluma has a game to give, meaning American needs to win Thursday to force the if-necessary game Friday at 6:30 p.m.

This is the second time this summer American has rallied into the championship round through the elimination bracket after dropping a tourney opener. They wrote that script in the District 52 tourney, responding to an opening-game loss with seven straight wins to claim the District 52 title.

“I think districts really showed the boys anything is possible if you keep that one-game mentality,” Steve Church said. “So, I think with that first [loss Saturday] … the boys were like: ‘It’s a double-elimination bracket, we still have one game tomorrow, and it’s business as usual.’”