San Mateo National trounces Pacifica, advances to championship round in District 52 11s tourney

“I think we’re going to be really enthusiastic,” National’s Jack Hurley said. “We think we’re going to win the ’ship this year.”

Hurley was National’s best run producer in Saturday’s 17-run explosion. Batting in the No. 8 spot, Hurley capped the first-inning rally with a booming two-run single to right-center. He was the 11th batter to hit in the second inning, and capped that rally too, with a two-run single to right.

Entering the day with a modest 1-for-4 batting line through National’s first two games, Hurley went 2 for 3 with four RBIs and is now hitting .429 in the tournament.

“We always come out with a lot of energy — enthusiastic,” Hurley said. “So, we always come out hard.”

Advancing through the winners’ bracket, National now has a game to give in the championship round. They will face the winner of Sunday’s elimination-bracket semifinal showdown between Alpine and Pacifica. Needing only win once to claim the District 52 11s banner, a National loss Monday would lead to a showdown in the if-necessary game Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

“It does feel like we’re close,” San Mateo National manager Mike Lambrechts said, “but you never count your chickens before the eggs hatch.”

All National’s first-inning runs came with two outs. Mayson Jusino started the rally with a one-out infield single, but Pacifica got a stellar second out when right fielder Jackson Painter ranged into right-center and went into an all-out knee slide to rob Zach Piccinini of extra bases.

But National responded with by getting the next six batters on base, including four straight singles by Mason Lambrechts, Luke Passalaqua, Kaleb Lee and Sterling Bailey. Ethan Horn then drew a bases-loaded walk before Hurley, hunting a fastball, scorched his two-run single up the right-center gap.

It took National just seven pitches on defense to get back in the dugout, thanks largely to Lee’s glove work at second base in the bottom of the first. With one out, Pacifica’s Hunter Potencion hit a hard grounder over the middle, but Lee danced toward his right to nab it with a backhand and throw off his back foot, falling away from the play, to shoot down Potencion for the second out.

“I didn’t have enough time to stop, so I just threw it off my back foot,” Lee said. “And it just got there, and I was happy.”

The bottom of the National order set the table in the second, with Joel Price and Sam Depuy notching back-to-back singles. With one out, Jusino got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Then Piccinini made up for getting robbed in the first inning by lofting a long double to center, with all three runners scoring on the play.

After Piccinini scored on a wild pitch, National again loaded the bases with a walk to Mason Lambrechts, a single by Passalaqua and a walk to Lee. Bailey followed with an RBI groundout, and Hurley capped the rally with a two-run single to stake the Nats to a 13-0 lead.

Still, Pacifica made a fight of it by scoring in four straight innings to avoid the mercy rule.

“We made it interesting, but that’s just not enough innings,” Pacifica manager Louie Potencion said. “That San Mateo National team is just too good to leave that many runs on the board.”

While right-handed reliever RJ Villazon was settling things down with 2 1/3 innings of work, Pacifica got on the board. MJ Spears led off the second with a single, moved to second base on a walk to Villazon, moved to third on a groundout by Lincoln Balagot, then raced home on a wild pitch.

Then Pacifica showed off some fancy glove work of its own in the top of the third when shortstop Miles Tucker made the play of the day.

Price led off the inning with a slow bounder over the middle of the infield, but Tucker cut it off by ranging in front of the second base bag to spear it. Then, with his glove angled back after the catch, Tucker made the exchange to his throwing hand the only way he could, transitioning behind the back Savannah Bananas style and making the throw on the run to get the out.

“He’s a wizard with the glove,” Louie Potencion said. “He does a lot of things that will surprise me, and that one didn’t surprise me.”

Pacifica added three runs in the third with RBIs from Mason Agbulos and Hunter Potencion, and an RBI double from Spears. In the fourth, Pacifica had a chance to get back in it after pushing a run across with an RBI single from Tucker, and loading the bases with no outs. But with Hurley on in relief, National cut down a run on a force play at the plate on a ground ball for the first out, then got an infield pop-out and a strikeout to strand them loaded.

“That was a tough one,” Louie Potencion said. “I think a lot of times you have plays go your way. That was just one of those times we couldn’t put a good piece on it.”

National went up 15-5 in the top of the fifth when Lee and Bailey each scored on wild pitches. Pacifica averted the mercy rule, however, scoring in the bottom of the frame on a solo homer by Hunter Potencion, with the entire team celebrating with some bowling pin choreography at home plate. The Nats got two runs back, though, dancing around the bases with Caden Jensen swiping home on a wheel steal, and Piccinini, after stealing second, scoring on the same play by racing all the way home on an infield throwing error.

Pacifica went quietly in the sixth, with Piccinini setting down the side in order, finishing off the day with back-to-back strikeouts.

Pacifica now falls to the elimination-bracket semifinals to face Alpine, Sunday, at 1 p.m.