San Mateo National mounts wild comeback to stay alive in Section 3 Little League 11s tourney

“Well, our coaches always say: ‘Play like you’re down by five,’” National third baseman Mason Lambrechts said, “and we were exactly down by five.”

National was already missing a player Monday night due to illness, and lost two more players and their manager along the way. Both manager Mike Lambrechts and the leadoff batter were ejected after National’s first at-bat in the bottom of the first inning. After the batter got hit by a pitch, he was called out due to the home plate umpire finding pine tar residue on the bat. The batter and the manager were summarily ejected from the game.

“Since our player and our coach got ejected, we thought we could do it for them,” Mason Lambrechts said.

Down to 10 players at that point, National lost another player in the fourth inning when, trailing 8-5, Mason Jusino got hit by a pitch and was forced to leave the game due to injury.

“These boys played hard,” National’s acting manager Zack Horn said, “and there was plenty of reasons to feel like they were down and out. ... One gets removed and another one got hurt, and it was all hands on deck, and these boys responded.”

Prior to Jusino departing, National led off the inning with singles from Brandon Laguna and Sam DePuy. After the hit batsman loaded the bases, National pushed all three runs across, and then some. Luke Passalaqua tied it with an infield single. Then Caden Jensen delivered a two-out RBI single to center to score Mason Lambrechts to give National a 9-8 lead.

Passalaqua enjoyed a big night, going 3 for 4 with six RBIs. His biggest swing of the game came with National trailing 6-1 in the bottom of the third, when he lofted a fly ball to right field that kept carrying and cleared the wall for a grand slam home run.

“We all went crazy,” Mason Lambrechts said.

Passalaqua is now 4 for 9 in the tournament, and is batting .400 (8 for 20) on the summer.

“Luke has had amazing at-bats throughout the tournament,” Horn said. “He’s had very clutch at-bats for us and the grand slam was icing on the cake. And I can’t wait to see what he does tomorrow.”

Mason Lambrechts added a 3-for-3 night with three RBIs, and Jensen also had three hits. Mason Lambrechts and Passalaqua added key insurance runs in the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles, and were both greeted at first by teammate Ethan Horn, who was coaching first base due to National being down to two coaches.

National reliever Zach Piccinini earned the win, and closed out the game with 2 2/3 innings of work. Union City closed to within a run in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out, two-run double from Mateo Ramirez. But Piccinini buckled down with runners on second and third, and induced a foul pop fly to the right side which he gloved himself for the final out.

“He was impeccable,” Zack Horn said. “He absolutely attacked the zone and he hit his spots and made his pitches. And hats off to Union City for getting the bats on the ball and getting a few runs in, but Zach, he never wavered. ... He found his groove and took us home.”

Due to Monday’s ejections, National’s leadoff hitter must serve a one-game suspension Tuesday. The penalty for a manager getting ejected is even steeper, as Mike Lambrechts must serve a suspension for the remainder of the current Section 3 tournament, as well as a suspension for the following Northern California tournament, should National advance.

With the Nor Cal tournament being the final stage of 11s play, Mike Lambrechts is effectively out for the remainder of the All-Stars season.

“At the end of the day, rules are rules,” Mike Lambrechts said. “I’m going to follow them. ... Rules are rules. What are you going to do?”

National will now add Mark Jusino to the coaching staff, with Zack Horn serving as manager. The two have coached together for three consecutive regular-season championship teams at the Triple-A, PCL and Majors levels with the in San Mateo National Little League Astros.

Advancing through the elimination bracket, National must win twice in the championship round in order to deny San Ramon Valley the Section 3 championship banner. San Ramon Valley need win only once. Tuesday’s championship game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. An if-necessary game is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Alpine eliminated in Section 3 10s tourney

The Alpine Little League All-Stars 10-and-under team’s summer run came to an end Monday night with a 9-4 loss to Pleasanton in the elimination-bracket semifinals at Veterans Memorial Park in Union City.

Pleasanton never trailed, rallying for four runs in the first, three in the second, and two more in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead. Alpine scored all four of its runs in the top of the fifth.

Charlie Katz and Easton Morrison paced Alpine with two hits and one RBI apiece. Tommy Masters added a single and an RBI, and Keegan Wolf also drove in a run.

Pleasanton advances to the the tournament championship round beginning Tuesday night to face Castro Valley.

Alpine’s roster included: Lolo McNeil, Wilsoni Shank, Hudson Rich, Tayo An, Cole Shortal, Patrick Low Ah Kee, Dante Delfino and Andrew Sutkin.