Post 82's season comes to an abrupt end

Saturday, the Orioles suffered their first loss in the double-elimination tournament. Sunday, Twin City's Kyle Conlan ended San Mateo's season by drilling a 1-1 pitch into the left-center field gap to plate Paul Martin with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Titans a 4-3 win.

"I never thought (the season) would end," said San Mateo manager Mike Chanteloup. "I just thought we'd get it done."

San Mateo (33-14), which struggled offensively in a 6-1 loss to Salem, Ore. Saturday, carried that slump into Sunday's game. The Orioles found themselves down 2-0 after three innings, with the Titans scoring an unearned run in the second and making it 2-0 with a solo homer in the third.

"When it was 2-0, [the San Mateo players] knew two runs wouldn't beat us," Chanteloup said.

San Mateo mustered only three hits through the first five innings against Titans' starting pitcher Jordan Esparza, who is going to the University of Washington on a full-ride scholarship.

San Mateo finally got to Esparza in the sixth, scoring three runs on three hits. Drew Pedersen led off with a single and Bradon Barron walked. Giorgio Lavezzo followed with an RBI single to left and following a groundout, Ryan Peterson gave San Mateo its first lead of the game, 3-2, stroking a two-run single to right.

"Had we gotten a 4-2 lead, they might have had to play differently," Chanteloup said.

Unfortunately for San Mateo, it couldn't hold the lead as Twin City tied the score in the bottom of the frame. Back-to-back singles, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly knotted the score at 3.

San Mateo had its chances the rest of the way, the Orioles just couldn't come up with the big hit. They had runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh and couldn't cash in and then had a leadoff single in the eighth erased on a double play.

Despite the back-to-back losses, Chanteloup was pleased with the way his team played.

"This is the one game I didn't second guess myself," Chanteloup said. "We ran into another level of play and teams that we're just as good as us."

Salem, Ore. 6, San Mateo 1

San Mateo, which had won its first two games by a combined scored of 26-3, were shut down by the Dodgers Saturday night, dropping the Orioles into the losers' bracket.

Salem pounded out 17 hits but only scored six runs against San Mateo starting pitcher Ryan Peterson, who pitched a complete game.

Salem scored two in the third, one in the fourth, two more in the fifth and the final run in the ninth.

Peterson's gutty effort kept the Orioles in the game but the San Mateo offense could not solve Salem starting pitcher Chase Birky, who held the Orioles to just one run on nine hits. Peterson's single in the fourth inning plated Giorgio Lavezzo, cutting Salem's lead to 3-1.

But the Orioles could not generate any offense after that. Twice San Mateo had runners on first and second with no outs and could not bring them home. The Orioles also struck out nine times.

Salem had the Orioles scouted perfectly and were patient at the plate. The Dodgers laid off any low pitch, waiting for Peterson to bring a pitch up in the zone. When he did, the Dodgers pounded it. Of their 17 hits, the Dodgers had four doubles and a home run.