San Mateo American passed a big test Monday, winning its first elimination game in the Northern California State 12-and-under tournament in Watsonville.
The victory wasn’t nearly as carefree as American’s 17-5 mercy-rule triumph over Sunrise/Delta might suggest, however.
American trailed 5-3 heading into the top of the fourth before exploding for a 14-run rally, the team’s biggest single-inning output of the Little League All-Stars summer season.
“It was interesting for a few minutes,” San Mateo American manager Paul Witten said. “Then, boy … we scored 14 runs, and we scored the first 12 runs with nobody out. So, the boys caught fire in the fourth inning, and it was fantastic.”
With American looking at potentially playing seven games in seven days in order to navigate the elimination bracket — being forced there after Sunday’s 7-3 loss to Tri-City in the second game of the tourney — pitching is at a premium. Witten used three arms Monday, with Jake Mrowka working two innings as the starting pitcher, Evan Gilbert extending for 67 pitches, and Alex Yoshino closing it out in the bottom of the fourth.
American will have its slew of aces available Tuesday in an elimination game against Los Gatos at 5 p.m. But Witten was nearly forced to cash in one of them Monday, as right-hander Landon King was warming up in the bullpen heading into the fourth when his team was still trailing by two runs.
“We haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet, but we’re going to feel it out,” Witten said. “It would be nice to not have to use Landon until we need him.”
The pitching strategy changed in a hurry during the epic 14-run output. Despite the season-record crooked number, American didn’t hit any home runs in the inning. Willy Folau came the closest, smashing a long double off the top of the wall in center field. But it was a base-hit carousel that set the rally in motion.
Yoshino led off with a pinch-hit single to left. Dylan Erlandson followed with a pinch-hit single in the No. 9 spot. That was the rocket fuel the top of the batting order needed to take off. And take off American did.
“They did pretty quickly,” Witten said. “It was fun to watch, and it was pretty fun to be a part of.”
There are two more rounds of elimination-bracket play to qualify for the tournament championship round, opening Thursday. The team advancing through the elimination bracket would need to win an if-necessary game, scheduled for Friday, to claim the title.
The winner of the seven-team Nor-Cal tournament advances to the coveted West Zone Regional tournament in San Bernardino.
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