Pacifica rallies in extra-innings to advance to District 52 Little League All-Stars 12s finals

Monday’s back-and-forth battle turned Middlefield Ballpark into a torture chamber for anyone emotionally invested in the game, especially for a Pacifica team that never led in the game until Lincoln Balagot raced home to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh.

“They were super excited,” Pacifica manager Louie Potencion said. “Alpine’s a top-notch team, so it’s never easy. We’ve played them several times, and it’s always been a close game.”

With the “ghost runner” placed at second base to start the seventh, Jack Delgadillo drew a walk, and MJ Spears Jr. singled to left to load the bases for Pacifica. Then, with Alpine drawing in its infield, Hunter Potencion hit a hard grounder under an infielder’s glove to score Balagot to set off the celebration.

“I think as soon as that ball went to the outfield, it was a big sigh of relief,” Louie Potencion said. “And the boys were excited, for sure.”

While Pacifica has swung the bats well in the tournament — totaling seven home runs through four games, including two more Monday, and outscoring opponents 38-8 throughout — it was some clutch defense that set the stage for Monday’s big finish.

In the top of the seventh, Alpine had runners at the corners with two outs, and attempted the wheel steal by putting the runner at first base, Gavin Arditi, in motion. Arditi drew a throw to second baseman Jake Schaible, who ran Arditi back and tossed to first baseman MJ Spears Jr., as the runner on third base, Connor Murphy, broke for the plate.

“My thinking is they wanted to get that runner into some kind of scramble where you leave it up to the player to make a decision,” Louie Potencion said. “It’s a play we practice all the time, so we were ready for it one way or another.”

Spears threw home to the catcher Hunter Potencion, who attempted to tag Murphy as he ran toward the the plate without a slide. Murphy was forced off his line to avoid the tag, and missed the plate in the process.

“We got first and third, and we tried to make something happen, and they made a really good play,” Alpine manager John Brock said.

As Murphy scrambled back in an attempt to get to the plate, Hunter Potencion alertly tagged him for the third out of the inning.

“It was a close play,” Louie Potencion said. “It was bang-bang. It really could have gone either way. But I’m happy the call went our way. But that play set the tone pretty much of how the game went. It was a game of inches. It could have gone either way.”

A run would have given Alpine its third lead of the game, as John Brock’s squad jumped ahead 2-0 in the first and broke a 2-all tie with two runs in the top of the sixth.

Alpine got the carousel started in the first. Nixon Strick led off the game with a sharp single to left. Ryan Cohen followed with a one-out walk, and cleanup man Brandon Pyle singled through the middle to load the bases.

Pacifica starting pitcher Miles Tucker bounced back to strike out the next batter. But, with two outs, Sam Kroll sent a one-hop shot into the 5.5 hole. Pacifica shortstop Mason Agbulos made a fantastic diving stop, snagging the grounder with a backhand, and had the out in front of him at third. But Agbulos had trouble getting the ball out of his glove, and his throw overshot the third baseman, allowing Strick to score the game’s first run.

Murphy then reached on a high infield chopper to the right side for an RBI single to score courtesy runner Tommy Brock, giving Alpine a 2-0 lead.

But, with the bases loaded and two outs, Tucker bounced back to strand all three runners by notching a strikeout on his 28th pitch of the inning with a big bending curveball.

“I felt good I felt positive that we put up two,” John Brock said. “Yeah, there have been some games where we’ve got that big hit, and we didn’t get it. ... I think we felt good about 2-0, and it was like 28 pitches. But, yeah, it could have been more.”

Four Alpine pitchers — Kroll, Nixon Strick, Pyle and Arditi — combined for 12 strikeouts, but Pacifica found its power stroke the second time through the batting order, as Tucker and Balagot launched back-to-back solo home runs in the fourth inning to tie it up. Tucker’s was a loud liner to straightaway center. Balagot’s was a booming no-doubter just left of straightaway center.

“I’ll be honest with you, these boys, all through this lineup can hit home runs,” Louie Potencion said. “They all can hit the ball hard. It’s not what they look for. I think it’s really see the ball, hit the ball, and see what happens.”

Alpine jumped back ahead in the sixth in an odd sight for a Little League game. With the bases loaded and two outs, and the switch-hitting Kroll due up, Pacifica changed pitchers, swapping out the left-handed Chase Tevis for the right-hander Delgadillo. Pacifica didn’t realize that by doing so, they were turning Kroll around from hitting right-handed — which he had yet to do in the tournament — to batting left-handed.

Kroll didn’t wait around, jumping on the first pitch he saw, a shin-high fastball, and ripping it into center for a two-run double.

“He’s a big kid,” John Brock said. “When he hits the ball, he hits the ball hard.”

But Pacifica rallied back in the bottom of the sixth to force extra-innings. Jackson Painter sparked the rally with a one-out infield single. Then Schaible got hit by a pitch and Evan Lim walked to load the bases. Agbulos followed with a clutch line-drive single with the ball getting away from the outfielder to allow two runs to score on the play.

The last time Pacifica advanced to the District 52 12s finals was in 2017, when the city was still split into National and American leagues. Pacifica American won the 2017 12s banner. At the time, it was the league’s second championship in four years.

Alpine now saddles up to play again Tuesday, facing San Mateo American in an elimination game at Middlefield Ballpark at 6 p.m. The winner advances to face Pacifica. In order to win the District 52 championship, either Alpine or American would have to win three games in three days, including twice in the championship round.

“You can’t win three games on your next play,” John Brock said. “So, you have to take it one game at a time and play tough. The only teams left in the tournament are good teams, so we have to play hard and grind and do our best.”

San Mateo American advanced through the elimination bracket Monday with an 11-6 win over Hillsborough. Grayson McLaughlin powered American, going 2 for 3 with a double, a home run and three RBIs. Jameson Stoloski was 3 for 3 with a double and two RBIs, while firing three shutout inning’s as American’s starting pitcher. Mason Dow and Mico DeMartini had two hits apiece for Hillsborough, while Momo Lubarsky added a triple with an RBI.