San Mateo American holds on to top San Carlos in District 52 Little League All-Stars 12s opener

American took a 5-0 lead into the sixth, but San Carlos staged a late rally to send nine batters to the plate in the final inning. After Armstrong opened the frame with his seventh strikeout of the day, three straight San Carlos batters reached to load the bases and knock American’s ace right-hander out of the game.

“I really wanted to finish it,” Armstrong said. “But, it was OK. We still got the win.”

San Carlos turned over the batting order, and Gino Flores greeted the American bullpen with a two-run double to cut the lead to 5-2. The carousel might have kept going had it not been for Stoloski’s defense, as the rangy shortstop glided to a high, hard hopper off the bat of Austin Anderson — using some smooth footwork, a high backhanded grab and a rocket throw to first — to get the second out of the inning.

“The shadows right now, it’s really hard to see it,” said Stoloski, who admitted he was nervous when the ball left the bat. “So, it was hard. He’s fast.”

American wasn’t out of the woods, though. An unintentional intentional walk to big bopper Matty Weisman was followed by a two-run single from Gus Mitchell, cutting it to 5-4 with the potential tying and winning runs on base. But the dart-throwing Jones bounced back to coax an infield popup to none other than Stoloski at short to end it.

“[Jones’] fastball’s really good,” Armstrong said. “Good velo. He has good command. He has a pretty good curveball, he can locate it. ... I knew, especially with a five-run lead, we were going to finish that game out.”

Stoloski is in his fourth summer playing Little League All-Stars, but has bounced back and forth between shortstop and second base. Saturday marks just the second opener in District 52 play where he’s started at short, but he got off to a great start as American erased a leadoff single by Flores in the first.

Anderson followed by roasting a sharp grounder over the middle, but Stoloski had him played perfectly to pivot toward the keystone sack to pick it clean and shuffle it to second baseman Avir Humphrey to start a spirited 6-4-3 double play. The celebration was just as spirited, as Humphrey slapped his own chest, then Stoloski echoed the sentiment by slapping his second baseman’s chest as well.

Armstrong notched a strikeout for the third out of the inning, then American took the momentum into the dugout to set the table with a leadoff double from Stoloski and a walk by Jones before Armstrong connected for a three-run home run.

Then American turned to the small-ball attack to add critical insurance runs, with Grayson McLaughlin scoring on a passed ball in the fourth, and Shoma Adams scoring when Stoloski reached on an infield error in the fifth.

“I think on this small field, make the other team make plays,” San Mateo American manager Anthony Stoloski said. “So, we try to get the ball in play as much as we can. Certain kids that can run a little bit, they’re going to bunt. ... It’s a big part of our game.”

American totaled just four hits in the contest against San Carlos’ starting pitcher Anderson, who went 4 1/3 innings, before Weisman fired two-thirds of scoreless relief. McLaughlin led the way with two hits. Flores paced San Carlos with a 2-for-2 day with a double and two RBIs.

With the win, American advances through the winners’ bracket to face host Palo Alto in a second-round game Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. San Carlos falls to the elimination bracket, and returns to action Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.