San Mateo American wins Section 3 Intermediate championship; Nor Cals up next

Now 13, the two were the catalysts in adding yet another championship banner to the collection as San Mateo American rallied for a 4-2 victory over Livermore to claim the Section 3 Intermediate All-Stars Tournament championship Monday night at Max Baer Field.

“Our chemistry and everything, we just connect so well, we’ve been together so long,” Tam said of all his American teammats. “I know we’re going to go pretty far.”

Playing on the same Livermore field where the Intermediate All-Stars World Series is traditionally played, Tam emerged the hero. The one they call “Tam-imal” let loose for his first home run of the All-Stars summer slate, launching a three-run bomb to left-center in the bottom of the fifth inning to give American a 4-2 lead.

“Honestly, we’ve been waiting for that hit from Sean for a while,” San Mateo American manager Jason Gordon said. “He’s been seeing a lot of off-speed stuff and was struggling for a few days. But when they put that guy in throwing heat, I kind of had a feeling like this was going to be the guy to get him right. He’s just so damn strong. Most kids can’t ride a ball out that high. It was impressive.”

Tam also provided an RBI single in the first inning, going 2 for 2 with a home run and four RBIs at the plate.

“I’m not going to lie, I’ve been in a little rut,” Tam said. “But today I knew it was going to be a new day. … I knew something was going to happen. So, right when I got up to the plate, I just let it go.”

Tam also took the ball as American’s starting pitcher, going up against Livermore right-hander Tyler Palma. The big right-hander worked 3 2/3 innings to take a no-decision. He cruised through the first three frames before running into trouble in the fourth, getting touched for two runs on three hits and two walks.

Then Tam turned the ball over to Guzman, who fired 3 1/3 innings to earn the win in relief. Guzman — who still resembles a young version of Tim Lincecum — entered amid a 1-1 tie and was greeted with an RBI single by Nicolai Barron. But the right-hander settled down to strand the bases loaded and keep American within reach at 2-1.

Not that Guzman was all too happy about conceding the lead.

“The first inning, I came in bases loaded and gave up a hit and they scored and took the lead,” Guzman said., “But I tried to keep it as close I can and close it out.”

Tam said he had no doubts about handing the ball over to his longtime teammate.

“He was feeling a little down but I told him: ‘You got this,’” Tam said. “’I know you’ve got this. You want to pitch.’”

Guzman actually ran into trouble before he even threw a pitch. With eye-black smeared down his face, he was told to remove it by a field umpire when he took the mound. But the shadowy remnants of his signature look remained as he commanded strikeouts and groundballs for the remainder of the evening.

It’s a place the undersized pitching giant has found himself time and again over the years for American since the team started winning banners at the District 9-10s level four years ago.

“He’s got a lot of experience,” Gordon said. “Obviously he’s done this now for five or six tournaments. He’s unflappable. He trusts himself and he’s been there before.”

Guzman opened the fifth by hitting a batter but bounced back to induce a grounder to third baseman Donovan Friedland for an around-the-horn double play to end the inning. In the sixth, Guzman allowed a single to Joey Morasco but bounced back with another grounder, this time to second baseman Xavier Ruiz, which American nearly turned into another twin-killing. Guzman settled for a fielder’s choice then struck out two batters in the inning.

Then, after a leadoff single by Barron to open the seventh, Guzman got his only out by way of the air on a popup into shallow center field. It looked destined to find the outfield grass as three American players converged on it, but somehow shortstop Sean Kelly made a miraculous over-the-shoulder catch. It was so impressive that the runner at first, along with many others in the park, couldn’t see that he actually caught it. The result was Kelly throwing behind the runner at first base for an unlikely double play.

“I honestly thought it was on the ground,” Gordon said. “I don’t know how he caught it. I don’t think he saw it till the very last second. Their first-base coach, their runner obviously didn’t think he could catch it. Plus, it’s just an unbelievable play.”

Guzman finished off the tournament with his fourth strikeout of the game.

One might think American would get used to these championship moments. But Tam said the excitement hasn’t waned.

“The suspense, the excitement, it’s all the same,” Tam said. “Even if we’ve done this before, everything is still the same. It’s still high stakes, suspense, all that. I was still feeling all that.”

With the win, American advances to the Nor Cal Division II Intermediate All-Stars Tournament opening Saturday in Chowchilla. American will face the Section 5 champion in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament. First pitch at Brentlinger Park is slated for 3 p.m.