Sun sets on Half Moon Bay's baseball season

“Guys played through a lot,” HMB manager Brian Anderson said. “We had some guys who went down with injuries. … A lot of resiliency. A lot of great seniors, a lot of great memories. We just didn’t play our best game when we needed to.”

It was as frustrating night for the HMB offense. The HMB Cougs (17-11) left eight baserunners on throughout, including stranding the bases loaded in the second and the sixth.

One of HMB’s best chances came in the second, sending senior standout Jared Mettam to the plate with the sacks loaded and two outs. Mettam took two great hacks at fastball offerings, fouling them both off, before swinging through an eephus-pitch curveball for a strikeout to end the inning.

“We’ll take him every time,” Anderson said. “He had a couple big cuts at fastballs and then they know: ‘We’re not messing with that — breaking ball.’ He’ll go down swinging though. I’d rather go down swinging.”

Mettam’s mighty cuts caused about the only breeze felt on a hot and humid night. Tuesday’s doubleheader nightcap at Washington Park started an hour late due to a long delay in the the opening game between Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo School in the other CCS Division V semifinal.

SHP won 14-4 to advance to Saturday’s championship game. But during the middle innings, home play umpire Steve Eddings fell ill due to heat exhaustion, and the game was delayed for 45 minutes to attend to him medically, and to change the umpire alignment after his departure.

With HMB’s game starting at 8 p.m., the twilight sky of Santa Clara wreaked some havoc on the first inning. Christopher rallied for four runs in the frame, with a big catalyst being a ball getting lost in the sky by the HMB outfield that went for an RBI double by Christopher’s Ricky Wilkerson.

HMB starting pitcher Ryan Harrington battled through the first inning but didn’t come back for the second. Anderson opted to go to his workhorse, sophomore Devin Costa, after the four-run first.

“Unfortunately, we had to go to Devin really early,” Anderson said. “We usually only go to him for six or seven, but it just seemed like Ryan couldn’t find the breaking ball as much as he’d like to today. And also we had missed plays behind him too in that inning.”

HMB had two other chances at the plate. In the fourth, Kai Zanette and Jason Couto drew walks. But with runners at the corners and two outs, Harrington hit a one-hop smash right at Christopher second baseman Eric Cantu for the third out of the inning.

In the sixth, HMB loaded the bases to get Harrington to the plate for a potential reprieve, but his hard-hit ball to the outfield found the glove of center fielder Diego Enriiguez to retire the side.

“Guys hit balls hard,” Anderson said. “Just a lot of at ’em balls.”

After Christopher upped the lead to 5-0 in the top of the second, HMB pushed a run across in the second inning.

Aidan Vazquez — who returned to action for the postseason after suffering a wrist injury that cost him the final three weeks of the regular season — worked a leadoff walk. Then with two outs, Zanette reached on a catcher’s interference and Cuoto produced an RBI single.

In the seventh, Mettam turned the final at-bat of his HMB career into a spectacle, scorching a double up the left-center field gap. He moved to third on a flyout off the bat of Trevor Coruccini and scored on a sacrifice fly by Will Moffitt.

Christopher now advances to face SHP in Thursday’s Division V championship game. First pitch at Excite Ballpark in San Jose is scheduled for 7 p.m.

“I think it will be a great game … for sure,” Anderson said. “Sacred Heart, to me, has a better lineup. But these guys play some great baseball. … But we wish [SHP] the best of luck. We’d rather have those guys that had a great season and battled hard with us to get it. So, we’re obviously rooting for our league. But these guys play awesome, hard baseball, small ball, and I think it’s going to be an outstanding matchup.”