More American magic: Baker, Marinec go deep in dramatic District 52 12s walk-off win

American cruised into the sixth with a comfortable 5-1 lead, but National sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the inning, rallying for six runs to overtake its rival 6-5 on the scoreboard. But American wasn’t done, as catcher Zach Marinec lit up his dugout in the bottom of the frame with a game-tying solo blast. Then, after No. 12 hitter Joaquin Lee worked a 13-pitch at-bat for a walk, Baker ended it with a walk-off homer to deliver American to the tournament championship round.

“It feels super good to be the guy who won the game for us,” said Baker, who had never had a walk-off hit, let alone a walk-off homer, in his life. “But it’s also a team sport, and our whole team worked hard for it.”

American starting pitcher Brayden Sole cruised through 5 2/3 innings, and took a comfortable lead into the sixth for a team that ultimately homered four times in the game. Carter Wells connected for a two-run shot in the first inning, and Sole followed with a solo homer in the third.

“He pitched awesome,” Marinec said. “I love catching Brayden. He’s always accurate and he doesn’t throw any balls in the dirt. And he was feeling it against them. Things unfortunately went south at the end, but we managed to pull it out.”

After National grounded out twice to start the sixth, Sole appeared to have the third out of the game on an infield grounder, but an American error allowed Caleb Fuata to reach base and opened the door. Then, after a double by Christopher Vasquez put runners at second and third, American made a controversial decision by intentionally walking Michael Bahamondes to load the bases.

American’s respect for the cleanup hitter was a natural response to Bahamondes’ monster home run earlier in the day. His second-inning solo blast to right-center gave National its only run to that point. It also capped a streak of three straight games with a home run for Bahamondes, who hit .615 (8 for 13) with three homers and eight RBIs in the tournament.

“I was conflicted with the decision,” San Mateo American manager Jon Wells said. “Talking with my coaches, I felt it was best to not let him change the game with one swing. We only needed one out. No disrespect to any of their players, we felt if he hit a home run and it was a one-run game, then we would have a very difficult time with the next three, four hitters, given the emotional swing.”

What didn’t make sense about it was American was leading by four runs at the time, and it brought the potential tying run to the plate.

“I wouldn’t have done that if I was in that situation,” San Mateo National manager Gary Falzon said. “He’s not the tying run. But it is what it is. They did it. I didn’t agree with it. They heard that from me. ... I was surprised by it.”

The move ultimately backfired. Nathan Bosick followed with a bases-loaded walk, knocking Sole out of the game. Then with right-hander Alexander Bayer on in relief, Casey Armstrong drew a walk to make it 5-3, moving the potential tying run into scoring position and putting the potential go-ahead run on base.

Then, Bayer, too, seemed to have the third out by inducing an infield grounder off the bat of Lucas Solis, but American committed its second error of the inning, as Bahamondes raced home to cut the score to 5-4 and bring Jackson Bottani to the plate with the bases still loaded.

It was Bottani who made the last out Thursday on one of the hardest hit balls of the game when American escaped its first matchup against National with a 3-2 win. This time, Bottani delivered a blooper into no man’s land down the right-field line for a two-run double to give National the lead.

“The last couple games he’s squared it up well,” Falzon said. “He’s just been unlucky ... and then when you don’t hit the ball as great, it finds a hole and it drops in. And that’s the game of baseball.”

On the play, however, American got a huge third out with a play at the plate, when Solis tried to score from first base as the throw from the outfield got past Marinec, the catcher, and went to the backstop. Marinec, though, chased down the ball and threw it to Bayer covering to peg Solis at the plate in a bang-bang play leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

“That’s just one of those things where we practice that stuff all the time,” Jon Wells said. “Back up, making sure people are covering bases, that’s what we do for hours every day as these guys prep for these tournaments. So, they were aware, and they covered their spots and we were fortunate to get that out, which was a huge out. Because if he scores, they’re still hitting, we’re down 2, and what just happened at the end for us, we don’t get the opportunity for that.”

Facing the National bullpen after Bahamondes pitched the first five innings, Marinec had one thing on his mind when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the sixth — that he had to make up for letting the throw go to the backstop in the top of the inning.

“I had to in that situation,” Marinec said. “Down 6-5, I have to hit a ball hard — and it got out.”

Marinec’s blast down the left-field line was a no-doubter off the bat.

It was a huge swing not just for American, but for Marinec himself, who hadn’t homered since last year’s District 52 11s tournament. He had been mired in a slump in this year’s 12s tournament, and after starting the tourney as American’s cleanup batter, he found himself hitting in the No. 11 spot Saturday.

All that was forgotten as Marinec rounded the bases to give American second life.

“It was a lot of adrenaline when I was running the bases,” Marinec said. “The previous play, the ball got past me. And even though I got the out, I was still upset, and I was nervous; I was freaking out.”

Then Lee locked up for an epic 13-pitch battle. The left-handed hitter was initially ahead in the count 3-1 before fouling off eight straight pitches — an entertaining show in its own right as a National fan in the concourse along the third-base side caught one barehanded, another one sailed onto Middlefield Road and just missed bouncing into the open window of a Toyota Prius driving by, and another one one-hopped the back of a parked van with a thud in the parking lot.

When the battle was over, Lee took the 13th pitch for a ball. He then moved to second on a groundout to bring Baker to the plate for his date with destiny.

“I was just looking for his fastball,” Baker said. “I wasn’t going out of the zone. I didn’t want to help him. It was just a line-drive-up-the-middle approach.”

Instead, Baker crushed the game-winning two-run bomb deep into the left-field plaza to end the District 52 Little League immortal, a game the likes of which even American’s manager had never witnessed.

“Nothing like this before,” Jon Wells said. “This was one of the greatest Little League games I’ve ever been a part of, and played by both teams. Both teams showed heart and grit and determination. I have not been a part of something like this with this group, and obviously not in the dramatic way of multiple home runs at the end.”

It was a stunning sight as National’s players were walking off the field before Baker even finished running the bases.

“They’re disappointed,” said Falzon, who has managed some of his All-Stars, along with coach Dave Fuata, for four years. “They’re sad. You work so hard, and for a lot of these kids they’ve been All-Stars since they were 10, or some of them even 9. And having coached them all the way through, it was tough for me to kind of get the words out, to be honest with you.

“Basically what I told them was they did everything I asked for them to do,” he said.

With the win, American advances to the tournament championship round to face Alpine beginning Tuesday at 6 p.m. With Alpine advancing through the winners’ bracket, they need be defeated twice, while only needing win once to claim the District 52 12s banner. An if-necessary game is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m.