Sherer’s walk-off HR keeps Redwood City’s District 52 title hopes alive

Sherer did not disappoint. With two runners on, and Redwood City trailing Alpine by two runs, Sherer connected with a high fastball and sent it sailing well over the left-field fence at Trinta Park’s North Field to deliver his team to a stunning 9-8 walk-off victory.

“I didn’t think I was going to hit it that far,” Sherer said. “But my teammates were chanting: ‘Walk! Off! Home! Run! ... Walk! Off! Home! Run!’ And I gave them what they wanted.”

The regulation home run was the first Sherer has ever hit in his life. He did hit an inside-the-park home run last year for Energy House during the Redwood City Triple-A regular season. But Monday’s game-winning bomb was the first time he ever cleared the fence.

“Not bad timing,” Redwood City manager John Brennan said.

Sherer is so new to the art of the home run trot, he wasn’t even sure when or how to enjoy it as his teammates were going crazy — especially Carlo Minitti, who was on third base and was angled toward Sherer as he jumped up and down in disbelief all the way to home plate; and Matty Brennan, who was on second base, and was smiling as big as anyone as he was being reminded by his third-base coach to keep running the bases.

However, no one was in greater shock than Sherer.

“When I looked at the ball, I thought it was going to hit the fence, or something,” Sherer said. “I kept my head down, and when I started seeing my teammates walk up to home and start cheering, I was like: ‘Wait, did I hit it out of the park?’”

With the win, RWC forces a decisive if-necessary game Tuesday night at Trinta Park. Alpine advanced to the finals through the winners’ bracket, and must be beaten twice to be denied the District 52 10s championship banner. First pitch for Tuesday’s winner-take-all tournament finale is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

“We’re feeling good about our standing for tomorrow and we’ll go out and have another great game,” Alpine manager Tim Katz said. “Tip your hat to Redwood City. One of the most amazing ends to a Little League game I’ve ever seen. And we get to play more baseball [Tuesday].”

Alpine was in the driver’s seat heading into the sixth inning, leading by one run prior to their three-run rally in the top of the inning to take an 8-4 lead. In fact, they previously only trailed briefly in the first inning, when RWC scored on an RBI single from Minitti.

In the top of the second, Alpine tied it when Wilson Shank stole home on a wheel steal, with Tayo An swiping first and drawing a throw in the process. Then in the third, Alpine took a 4-1 lead by rallying for three runs without the ball ever leaving the infield, capped by a two-run infield single by Charlie Katz.

“The kids were doing a great job just battling at the plate,” Tim Katz said. “A lot of two-strike counts. They were fighting pitches and just getting it in play — good things happen — and then using their legs to make things happen. It was fun to see, getting some runs on the board without needing any big hits.”

But RWC fired back to tie it in the bottom of the third, with the bottom of the order setting the table. No. 11 hitter Luke Johnson and No. 12 hitter Brennan Newby drew back-to-back walks. After a wild pitch, Johnson scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Keegan Wolf. Then with two outs, Minitti and Matty Brennan notched back-to-back RBI singles to tie it 4-all.

Alpine swung back ahead in the fourth by virtue of a two-out rally. Hudson Rich doubled to left to set the table for An, who reached on an infield single, with Rich racing all the way home on an infield error to stake Alpine to a 5-4 lead. There it would stay till the sixth, when Wolf led off with a single, and Charlie Katz followed with a rocket into the left-field corner for an RBI double.

“He’s a consistently reliable hitter,” Tim Katz said. “So, I was not surprised to see it, and was proud of him in that moment to have a great hit.”

After Tommy Master reached on an infield error, RWC recorded a clutch out on an infield grounder that saw third baseman Will Pirozolli and catcher Logan Schaukowitch run down Charlie Katz between third and home for the first out of the inning. But, three wild pitches to follow allowed Master and Lolo McNeil to score, upping Alpine’s lead to 8-4 heading to the bottom of the inning.

But Newby, hitting in the No. 12 spot, got things started with a loud swing of the bat, crushing a long double to right well over the heads of the shallow-set outfield.

“That’s the No. 12 hitter, and I actually bat him 12th because he’s got the pop,” John Brennan said.

Newby’s leadoff thump sparked the entire RWC dugout, as Larsen followed with a walk and, Minitti clocked a two-run double to deep center to cut the deficit to 8-6. Then Matty Brennan got hit by a pitch, bringing Sherer to the plate, and igniting the RWC dugout into prescient rally cry.

“We were hyped,” Sherer said. “Two of my teammates hit doubles, and then no outs and we were all on base. I was like: ‘I need to get these runs in and win this game.’”

Sherer stepped to the plate in a bit of a funk, going hitless for his previous five at-bats in the tourney, and hitting .231 (3 for 13) overall. With runners on first and second and no outs, Alpine went right after the powerful cleanup hitter.

“We had all that conversation in the dugout about which pitch you’re going to throw, all that,” Tim Katz said. “But with the tying run on first base, we didn’t want to risk a wild pitch with something off-speed.”

Minitti, Pirozolli and Grady Harmon pitched for RWC. Lolo McNeil, Shank and Easton Morrison pitched for Alpine.

RWC is now 6-1 in the tournament, and has won four straight since falling to the elimination bracket. Monday’s five-run sixth matches their biggest single-inning output of the tournament, something they’ve done three previous times — in the fourth inning Sunday in a 10-1 win over San Mateo American; in the second inning Saturday in a 9-4 win over Palo Alto; and in the fourth inning in the tourney opener, Saturday, June 21, in a 5-3 win over Half Moon Bay.

“So, we knew we were capable of doing that,” John Brennan said. “And these boys have got a lot of fight in them. So, we’re not playing to our potential a hundred percent yet on the field, but as far as the bats, we’ve got some bats.”