San Bruno wins Joe D crown

After storming through the winners’ bracket with three straight one-run victories, though, San Bruno — proclaimed as the “blue-collar Bruno boys” by manager Edgar Hernandez — brought home the state championship banner with an 8-4 win over the River City Outlaws Tuesday at Cosumnes River College. The title marks the first for San Bruno in a decade, having last earned the right to finish the summer circuit in a 2007 dogpile.

“It’s pretty big standing up for all of Bruno,” said Jesse Palafox, who closed out the championship victory. “To be the guy closing, it’s pretty special for your city.”

Palafox was named the Most Valuable Pitcher of the tournament after finishing off all four of San Bruno’s wins as a reliever. After serving as a starting pitcher for most of the regular season, Palafox and his rotation counterpart Aiden Yarwood were used mostly in relief at the state tournament to allow the team to spread out its sparse pitching staff.

“Our pitching staff isn’t what Pacifica or River City is,” Edgar Hernandez said. “So what we did is make it a three-inning game … so we’re strong on the back end.”

The strategy paid off as San Bruno played one-run, come-from-behind baseball throughout. After opening the tourney Saturday with a 6-5 win over San Francisco Trinity, San Bruno rallied back from five runs down in each of its 8-7 win Sunday over Pacifica, and Monday’s initial matchup with River City to notch an exciting 7-6 victory.

And even some of San Bruno’s players were pleasantly surprised with the results.

“You’ve always got to come up and win but, no, we expected a fight,” San Bruno’s Christian Colmenares said.

Colmenares was a defensive superstar in both San Bruno’s wins over River City. In Tuesday’s championship game, with Bruno leading 7-2 in the sixth, River City made its last stand by rallying for two runs; but it would have been more had it not been for a splendid running catch by Colmenares in left field, sprinting straight back on a long fly off the bat of Quinton Johnson and grabbing it on the dead run with a high backhand.

Monday’s defensive gem was even better as, after San Bruno rallied to take a 7-6 lead in the top of the seventh, River City set the table in the bottom of the frame. But with the potential tying and winning runs on base with two outs, Colmenares nabbed a similar fly ball, only deeper, by crashing into the wall to make the grab.

The win was critical to San Bruno’s pitching strategy, sending the purple-and-gold straight to the championship game. River City, meanwhile, had to knock off Pacifica 6-5 Monday night before returning Tuesday faced with the task of needing twice to beat San Bruno.

“We were slim on pitching,” Edgar Hernandez said. “If we play that second game, we’re in trouble. So I challenged the kids … and the kids accepted the challenge. That’s why, when [River City] scored a run, we’d come back in and put another one up.”

Edgar Hernandez handed the ball to his younger brother, Damien Hernandez, to make the start. And, indeed, it was a back-and-forth battle through the early innings. San Bruno opened with a two-spot in the top of the first. River City responded with a run in the bottom. Then each team scored single runs in the second.

Then Damien Hernandez pitched a scoreless inning in the third, setting the stage for San Bruno to extend its lead to 5-2 with a two-run rally in the fourth. Damien Hernandez worked precisely twice through the River City batting order, going 3 1/3 innings to earn the win.

“He could have gone the full seven (innings) but we wanted to keep everyone rested,” San Bruno catcher Max Stines said. “Everyone was ready. ... Our pitching is what won this tournament for us, no doubt.”

Stines had a big swing of the bat in the first, shooting a two-run single to center field to give San Bruno a 2-0 lead. San Bruno added an unearned run in the third when Jared Rogge reached on a two-base infield throwing error; he later scored when Yarwood reached on a throwing error. Then in the fourth, Bruno turned over the order with two big swings of the bat.

Christian Colmenares got hit by a pitch and Ricky Pasquet reached on a two-out walk to set the table. Then Yardwood — San Bruno’s leadoff hitter — and Cole Galli produced back-to-back RBI singles to pad the lead.

With Pasquet taking over on the mound with two on and one on in the fourth — stranding both runners and retiring the first five batters he faced — San Bruno added more insurance in the top of the sixth. Yarwood again came up clutch with two outs, drilling an RBI double to right-center to score Rogge. Then after a bunt single by Galli and a walk to Matt O’Mahoney to load the bases, Adrian Colmenares followed with a two-out walk to force home Yarwood.

The insurance runs loomed large when Pasquet ran into trouble in the sixth. The right-hander departed with the bases loaded and one out — thanks to the Christian Colmenares catch in left — with Adrian Colmenares taking over in relief. He was greeted by a two-run single by tournament MVP Logan Appino, but then silenced the rally by coaxing a pop-out to shortstop and a strikeout.

San Bruno added one more run in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk by Pasquet. Bruno stranded the bases loaded but no matter as Palafox emerged to retire the side in order in the seventh, including two strikeouts and a game-ending fly out to Christian Colmenares to set off the championship celebration.

Edgar Hernandez lauded the victory as a true team effort. Admitting San Bruno lacked star power, he said every player bought in to the team concept — the defining element of his blue-collared Bruno boys.

“You’re not always going to have your best players,” Edgar Hernandez said. “But you’re loyal to your soil.”