The San Mateo-Foster City Joe DiMaggio baseball team saw its season come to an end when it lost in the losers' bracket semifinals Tuesday in the Tournament of Champions in Yountville.
Having to win two on Monday to qualify for the tournament finals, SM-FC (25-14) lost its first game of the day and second of the double-elimination tournament when Sierra of Reno hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of seventh to beat SM-FC 5-4.
SM-FC trailed 4-3 heading into SM-FC's last at bat before tying the score at 4. Jason Crowley led off the inning with a single and pinch runner Andrew Cheung stole second. Henry Wrigley came through with a two-out single to plate Cheung with the tying run.
That feel-good feeling was shortlived, however, as Sierra's Scott Bowman blasted a home run in the bottom of the inning to give Sierra the win and end SM-FC season.
After winning the Peninsula Joe DiMaggio South Division title last week, SM-FC opened TOC play with a win over the same team that eliminated it three days later. In the tournament opener Friday, SM-FC needed 10 innings to down Sierra 9-7. The two teams were tied at 5 after seven innings, prompting three more innings of extra baseball. SM-FC finally broke through in the top of the 10th, scoring four times, the big blow being a Ryan Peterson opposite field home run to right.
Sierra scored two more in the bottom of the 10th but SM-FC pitcher Victor Schramm had enough of a cushion to pick up the win, pitching the final two innings.
In the second round, SM-FC faced a familiar opponent in Sapunar of San Francisco. The two teams have battled on numerous occasions over the past few seasons, usually with SM-FC coming out on top. Sapunar reversed the tables on Saturday, however, beating SM-FC 7-2.
Having to win the rest of its games to keep it season alive, SM-FC advanced to loser's bracket semifinal game with another extra-inning win, a 6-2 decision over Mendocino. SM-FC pitcher Danny Orlick deserved better than a no-decision as he pitched eight innings without giving up an earned run.
Mendocino nearly won in the bottom of the seventh when it scored two runs and had the bases loaded with no outs. But SM-FC outfielder Taylor Larson threw out a runner at the plate and SM-FC got out of the inning without further damage.
SM-FC scored four runs in the top of the 10th to put the game away. Steve Schields came up with a two-out single to drive in a run and Henry Wrigley, one of three players from the Millbrae team added to the SM-FC roster, capped the inning with a three-run homer.
The runs made a winner out of Schramm for the second time in three games as he pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
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