Rivalry drama rears its head in D52 tourney

Fuata made a scene more akin to the Giants-Dodgers rivalry, storming onto the field before Baker even finished rounding the bases. As American’s players poured out of the first-base dugout to greet Baker at the plate, National’s coach exited the third-base dugout and was standing right along the third-base line in foul territory, yelling across the field at American manager Jon Wells, as Baker jogged past Fuata en route to the plate.

The acrimony stemmed from American adding 11-year-old player Jacob Armstrong to their roster prior to the game. Armstrong began the All-Star summer season with the San Mateo American 11s team. When the American 11s team went two-and-out with a June 27 elimination loss in their tournament, however, the American 12s opted to add Armstrong to their roster — a legal transaction, as per Little League rules.

“I think Little League should change the rule,” Fuata said to the Daily Journal following the game. “I think bringing a kid up — because, what are we teaching other kids in Little League? Little League is supposed to be about family and friends ... and keep playing baseball, and enjoying the game of baseball. But you bring a kid up to play for one game because you want to win that bad, what are we teaching kids?”

As per Little League rules, a player is allowed to be added to a roster midseason so long as the player is not concurrently on another district team. So, when the season ended for the American 11s, Armstrong was eligible to move up to the 12s team. It is the second player this summer that moved teams in District 52. The other was a Belmont-Redwood Shores 11-year-old player who started the summer with the 12s team, but after BRS was eliminated from the 12s tourney he was added to the 11s team.

District 52 administrator Jono Gibbs said he has heard complaints like Fuata’s from other coaches and parents, especially since it can put some teams at a disadvantage. National did not have the option of pulling up players from their 11s team because the National 11s — who went on to win the District 52 11s championship banner — were still playing.

“They say: ‘we feel like we’re being punished for doing well,’ and I get that,” Gibbs said. “But you can add a kid any time, as long as you don’t have too many kids.”

American was taking a chance by adding Armstrong. By rule, a Little League All-Star team can carry a maximum of 14 players. Since American started the summer with 12 players, they were able to add Armstrong. However, because of the universal batting rule, that meant American had to bat 13 players instead of 12.

“As a [12s] manager, we wanted him to be on our district [12s] team,” Wells said. “Obviously, he had his group of 11s that — they were a talented team as well. But we mentioned at that time, we said: ‘... if he ever becomes available, we would be very interested,’ and the parents agreed. They didn’t want him to come up unless every single player on the team wanted him there. They’re all good friends with him.”

During the regular season, Armstrong played in the San Mateo American Little League Majors 12-and-under division.

“He’s really one of the top players in our league as an 11-year-old,” Wells said.

Armstrong ultimately played in two games for the American 12s All-Stars. He started at third base against National. Then in Monday’s 6-4 loss to Alpine in the tournament championship game, Armstrong was the starting pitcher.

“It was a situation where he could help our team ... and he could help us battle Alpine in the game ahead of us,” Wells said.

Fuata is a hardliner against roster additions of any kind. National had 11 players on its All-Star team, something that worked to their advantage as the meat of the batting order, anchored by cleanup hitter Michael Bahamondes — who hit .615 with three homers and eight RBIs through five games — got to the plate that much more frequently.

National’s roster, by design, was penciled at 12 players, but when another one of their middle-of-the-order players, Meshach Johnson got injured, they decided to preserve the continuity of their roster.

“We didn’t bring anybody up,” Fuata said. “We could have. We had 11s we could bring up too. But we wouldn’t do that to the team, because it’s not fair. These guys have been grinding together for the last month.”

Terry Bernal is a sports writer for the Daily Journal. His views are his own. He can be reached by email at terry@smdailyjournal.com or via phone at (650) 344-5200 x109.