Unlikely hero delivers walk-off single for San Mateo American 10s

And suddenly, the only way to stifle American’s fiery walk-off celebration was to douse it with ice water. Still shaking the water out of his hair some 10 minutes later, Gregory said he has never thought of himself as a two-strike hitter. In fact, he doesn’t care for hitting with two strikes at all.

“Not really, no,” Gregory said. “I just have more pressure on me.”

It was a high-pressure game from start to finish. Playing in the win-or-go-home elimination bracket, American now advances to the District 52 10s championship round to face Hillsborough starting Monday at 5:30 p.m. in Portola Valley.

Gregory had responded to the pressure earlier. American’s No. 12 hitter finished the day 2 for 3 with four RBIs, including a two-run double in a big six-run fourth. The rally saw American overcome an 11-5 deficit to tie it 11-all. Gregory’s two-run double made it 11-10, and he later scored the tying run on an infield grounder off the bat of Jacob Armstrong.

The difference was, it wasn’t until after his fourth-inning double that Pacifica turned to ace left-hander Chase Tevis, who struck out the side in the fifth, then struck fear into the American dugout when he walked back out to pitch the sixth.

“We were pretty confident,” Pacifica manager Louie Potencion said. “But not to take anything away from them. They’ve got some great hitters down there 1 through 12. So, it wasn’t going to be easy. … And you know how it is; those last three outs are the hardest — no matter what.”

“Hardest” was a relative term Sunday, as every out from the get-go seemed like the hardest out to get.

Both starting pitchers combined to throw 73 pitches in the first inning, as Pacifica opened the day with a four-run rally, setting the tone with back-to-back grip-it-and-rip extra-base hits from RJ Villazon and Hunter Potencion. But American fired right back with a five-run outburst in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by a two-run single from Grayson McLaughlin.

“It just seems like that’s been our season,” San Mateo American manager Jesse Jones said. “We’ve been coming from behind and somehow find a way to battle and carve ourselves back into the game. It hasn’t been easy for us. We’ve had to work hard for every single victory that we’ve had so far in this district tournament.”

American fell behind again in the second when Pacifica swung ahead 6-5, turning over the batting order, with Villazon and Pontencion batting in runs. When the two strong-handed crushers came up for a third time in the fourth, they were capping a five-run rally, with an RBI double from Villazon, followed by Hunter Potencion’s RBI single to make it 11-5.

Whereas American struggled with its pitching, an array of fine defensive plays kept the game from getting out of hand. The solid double-play duo of Armstrong at second and Noah Jones at shortstop turned a smooth twin-killing on a sharp grounder to second to retire the side in the third. But American saved its best defensive gems for late in the game, after overcoming a second large deficit to tie it in the fourth.

Pacifica cleanup hitter MJ Spears put a wrinkle in American’s comeback effort by leading off the fifth inning with a towering home run to right-center.

“He’s pretty strong,” said Pacifica’s Lincoln Balagot, who was standing on deck when Spears connected. “He’s our No. 4 batter. He can hit it really hard.”

Not only does the stout left-handed power hitter resemble former big league first baseman Prince Fielder, he and his team choreographed a celebration at the plate with all his teammates falling over like bowling pins when he stepped on home, resembling Fielder’s infamous walk-off celebration with the Milwaukee Brewers against the San Francisco Giants in 2009.

My, how the times have changed.

“I think, especially now in today’s age, kids just need to continue to have fun playing the game,” Jesse Jones said of the celebration. “So, I have no issues with the celebrations. It’s fun. ... And for a 10-year-old to hit it out like that, the No. 4 hitter, all I can ask is just that there was no runners on base.”

Spears’ animated celebration seemed to wake up the American defense. Balagot followed with a single to cap a 2-for-2 day, but American reliever Koa Rosenberg induced two consecutive grounders, with the infield getting the lead out at second base both times. Then after a walk to Preston Diao, Evan Lim hit a sinking liner to right-center that looked destined to score at least one run, when McLaughlin in center fielder came racing in to make an all-out diving play to end the inning.

American stayed with Rosenberg — pitching in his first game of the tournament — in the sixth, and he immediately got more help from his defense. Armstrong, having shifted to third, opened the inning by making a Matt Chapman-esque play by charging a bunt off the bat of Jace Harrington, and gunning to first on the run, off his back foot, to peg Harrington on a bang-bang play.

Then with one on and two outs, Villazon hit a deep drive to left-center that looked like it had a chance to get out, but left fielder Max Johnson chased it down with a long run straight back and a well-timed leap to glove it. Not only did Johnson’s rangy play save a run, it got American back in the dugout with a surge of momentum.

“It was a really good game,” Louie Potencion said. “Both teams came out to hit. And when you get closer to the end, you have to always watch your pitching. I think in both cases both teams had to watch their pitching. When it came down to the end, they were the home team and they banged it in. So, hats off to San Mateo.”

Willard set the table with a high popup in front of the plate that fell in for an infield single. Rosenberg followed with a single to put runners at first and second. Then, after Tevis notched his fourth strikeout of the game, American caught a break on a pitch to the backstop, putting both Willard and Rosenberg in scoring position.

Gregory swung through two pitches low in the zone and looked to be overmatched. Then came the magic swing of the bat that sent everyone home.

“I don’t know, I just thought it looked like it was in the strike zone,” Gregory said. “It was very fast. So, I didn’t really see it exact. But I just put the barrel to it and it went over his head.”

Advancing through the elimination bracket, American must win two games in the championship round in order to deny Hillsborough the title. Hillsborough need win only once. An if-necessary game is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Pacifica posted a 4-2 record in the tournament. Their roster includes Villazon, Tevis, Spears, Balagot, Diao, Lim, Harrington, Hunter Potencion, Jack Delgadillo, Devin Nieve, Miles Tucker and Keoni Lee.