Nor Cal champs!

Despite maxing out his pitch count, Levinson’s arm was feeling no worse for wear.

“Great,” Levinson said. “It only hurts the next day. So, I’m just happy to go celebrate.”

Celebrate Alpine did, as the boys from Portola Valley and Menlo Park become the first District 52 team to advance to the West Region tournament since Pacifica American in 2014.

Alpine manager Dave Levinson was dancing, hugging and even singing in the Lucchesi Park outfield after the Nor Cal banner presentation. As far as putting the feeling into words, right before he got doused with Gatorade, he put it succinctly.

“Wild joy,” he said.

It was earned joy at that.

Maidu proved a worthy adversary, one that District 52 knows all too well. It was in 2019 when the Roseville-area powerhouse knocked San Mateo National out of the Nor Cal tournament. And there were times in each of the last two meetings between the two teams — including Tuesday’s 4-3 extra-inning thriller — that Alpine might meet a similar fate.

Maidu sent a mighty arm to the hill as well in left-hander Jaxon Cruz, who seemed like the perfect antidote to Alpine’s murderer’s row of six left-handed bats throughout its lineup.

“That lefty could pitch,” Dave Levinson said. “That guy was good. He was throwing hard. Almost as hard as Nolan.”

After the teams traded runs in the second, Maidu jumped ahead when No. 3 hitter Sawyer Bovolick connected with a Nolan Levinson fastball and sent it sailing deep onto the center-field concourse.

But as they’ve done all summer, Alpine responded and responded quickly.

“I think it’s a positive, close group,” Dave Levinson said. “These guys are not playing afraid. ... I let them do their own pregame huddle. They’re picking each other up. We’ll set the tone every now and again, but the message has always been: ‘Go out there, have fun, play hard, collect outs, have ABs and the results will take care of themselves.’ So, the culture has always been positive, and the kids are able to respond out of that. They’re not afraid.”

Alpine worked counts and knocked Cruz out of the game with two outs in the fourth inning. Then in the fifth, Alpine rallied back against the Maidu bullpen. Dylan Dossola reached on a one-out error, and Bodhi Bedner followed with a line-shot double up the right-center gap. Simeon Ouellette-Massiou walked to load the bases, then Teddy Hourigan cashed in by working an eight-pitch at-bat for a bases-loaded walk to force home Dossola, tying it 2-2.

But Maidu reliever Preston Ortega entered to limit the damage, stranding three Alpine runners by notching back-to-back strikeouts. The big punch-out came against Nolan Levinson, as the left-handed power threat took a curveball down the middle for strike one, then didn’t see another pitch out over the plate as he swung through a crisp inside fastball for the third strike.

On the mound, though, Nolan Levinson was unflappable. He settled down after the fourth-inning homer, as Alpine didn’t allow another Maidu player to reach base.

Then in the top of the sixth, Alpine took its coronation lap with a game-winning two-run rally. Patrick Breslin led off the frame with a sharp single that careened off the mound, and just out of the reach of Maidu’s second baseman. Then came the disciplined, patient at-bats that defined the game as Kogan Flannery, Charles Saste and Max Turner drew three consecutive walks to give Alpine the lead.

“That was the game,” Dave Levinson said. “We’ve been averaging 140 pitches against for every game, and we’ve been throwing about a hundred. ... That Maidu team has a deep staff ... and they’re holding people down. And how did we get those runs in the last inning? Teddy, 3-2 ... that walk of course. ... But Charles and Max holding off the high fastball, that won the game.”

Turner saw seven pitches in his pivotal at-bat, taking two close ones — a dicey proposition considering the strike zone was much larger earlier in the game than later.

“I thought it was a little up and down,” Turner said. “I caught a few ones a little bit above my head called strikes, and a little low called strikes.”

Turner said he was terrified to take pitches once he got to two strikes.

“Yes, that inside one was very tedious,” Turner said.

But his patience won the day.

“It’s that discipline,” Dave Levinson said. “And I think it’s all summer they’ve been facing teams ... they love to elevate and they’ll strike them out. Our guys didn’t chase.”

Derek Armstrong followed with his second hit of the day, an RBI single to left to drive home Flannery. Armstrong was 2 for 3, and only missed a perfect batting line because he was robbed of a hit in the fourth inning on a fantastic knee-slide catch by the Maidu left fielder Ortega.

When Nolan Levinson marched out to the mound in the sixth with a pitch count of 78, he envisioned closing it out. So did his eventual replacement, Turner.

“I wanted him to go finish the last pitch on exactly 85 pitches,” Turner said. “I thought that would be cool.”

Nolan Levinson’s first three pitches of the inning were out of the zone, though, which changed his strategy.

“Whatever happens, happens,” Nolan Levinson said. “Once I got down 3-0, I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the game. So, I just thought: ‘At least get this guy out.’ And I battled back and got him out. That’s what I was trying to do.”

Levinson bounced back to record his 12th strikeout of the game with his 84th pitch. That allowed him to face one more batter, as he induced a groundout to Garrett Weiss at second to put Alpine one out away from the title.

That’s when Alpine turned to its closer, Turner, who also finished out the District 52 and Section 3 tournaments.

“I just went in there to try to throw three strikes,” Turner said. “I threw all two-seams. That’s my go-to pitch. Two missed outside. Strike out, foul ball foul ball — strike three.”

And with that strike three, Alpine came pouring out of the dugout, as Turner simply stood in the middle of the celebration in disbelief.

“I was just completely out of my mind,” Turner said. “I almost fainted, dude. Dude, that was a big moment.”