San Mateo National District 52 All-Stars swing to victory over Niles-Centerville in Section 3 opener

“Hitting’s contagious with this team,” San Mateo National manager Mike Lambrechts said. “When these boys hit, we just pass the sticks.”

That’s for sure. Through five games this summer, National is batting .348 and has scored five or more runs in an inning six times. Saturday marked a team-best 14 hits in the game, while the 10-run rally in the second was National’s best single-inning tally.

However, it was defense that set the tone in the top of the first. Starting pitcher Brandon Laguna slowed down a screaming line drive through the middle off the bat of Niles-Centerville cleanup hitter Callen Naraval, and shortstop Jack Hurley readjusted to gather it and gun to first for the final out of the inning.

The liner struck Laguna flush on the wrist of his glove hand and sent him tumbling to the ground in pain. It wasn’t until he noticed his team heading to the dugout that he realized Hurley completed the play behind him.

“I was very excited,” Laguna said. “I thought it would mess up his fielding, but he got the out.”

Laguna endured the injury, but would depart in the second inning after yielding a bases-loaded walk to Jonas Valencia to give Niles-Centerville a 1-0 lead. With relief pitcher Sterling Bailey escaping a one-out jam to strand all three inherited baserunners, the early deficit set the stage for Laguna to redeem himself at the plate during National’s landslide rally.

After National tied it on Ethan Horn’s RBI double, Laguna — who went 2 for 3 with four RBIs on the day — gave his team the lead with a bloop single down the left-field line to drive home two.

“I was very excited because now we’ve got the lead, we’ve got the momentum,” Laguna said.

In the inning, Caleb Lee added an RBI double, Mason Lambrechts had an RBI single, and Caden Jensen capped the rally with a two-run double.

However, National’s 10-1 lead hardly made for a runaway victory. It was the first time Niles-Centerville — a team that outscored three opponents 35-2 en route to winning the District 14 championship — found itself trailing this summer, but manager Justin Maggard’s squad responded as well as could be expected, rallying for five runs in the top of the third. Andrew Maggard sparked the rally with a leadoff single, followed by an RBI single from Naraval, an RBI from Jack Goodwin, a two-run single by Noah Anderson and an RBI single by Preston Gordon, cutting the lead to 10-6.

Justin Maggard said the key was: “Getting that first hit. Hard contact will always be contagious.”

It could have been worse, but Hurley entered in relief with one on and two out and promptly ended the inning with three sharp fastballs to record a three-pitch strikeout. Hurley paced National with two innings of work, as all the pitchers were on abbreviated pitch counts to keep them eligible for later use in the short four-team tournament.

“With the tournament back to back to back to back ... obviously pitch count is going to be huge,” Mike Lambrechts said. “So, we talked about it today. It was going to be pitch by committee.”

Hurley got some help from his defense in the fifth. After a one-out single by Eligh Lam, Andrew Maggard roped a Hurley offering back through the middle for what would have been his second hit of the day, but the ball was struck so hard, center fielder Luke Passalaqua charged it off the bat and threw out the lead runner at second base.

It was a familiar defensive gem for Passalaqua, who made similar plays twice in the District 52 tournament.

“When I saw the ball, I was like: ‘I have to get that and throw the guy out,’” Passalaqua said. “It was hit so hard at me, so I knew I could get the out.”

National was held scoreless in the third and fourth by pitchers Quentin Hu and Gordon, and Niles-Centerville cut the deficit to 10-7 in the top of the fifth on an RBI fielder’s choice off the bat of Elijah Thao. Then, with one on and two out, and the potential tying run on deck, National reliever Zach Piccinini emerged in a save situation to set down all four batters he faced to close it out.

Piccinini said he never even looked at the scoreboard to notice how close the game was before he climbed the mound.

“I don’t think so,” Piccinini said. “I knew I was going to get through the inning.”

National put the game on ice, rallying for four runs in the bottom of the fifth, including a loud two-run double by Laguna, and an RBI single from Joel Price.

Mason Lambrechts added a 2-for-2 day with two doubles and an RBI for National, while Hurley and Sam DePuy also had two hits apiece.

With the win, National advances through the winners’ bracket to face San Ramon Valley in the tournament semifinals, Sunday, at 11 a.m. San Ramon Valley advanced Saturday with a 12-2 win over Union City National. Niles-Centerville will face Union City in an elimination game Sunday at 3 p.m.