Jul 9, 2008

Hillsborough stars look unstoppable in blowout

By John Reid / Daily News Staff Writer

Hillsborough is looking like a shiny, new Ferrari firing on all cylinders. Frankie Ferrari's grand slam in the bottom of the first inning triggered a 13-0 methodical rout of Foster City in the winners-bracket final of the Little League District 52 11-and-12-year-old All-Stars Tournament at Palo Alto's Middlefield Park on Tuesday. The game was called after four innings under the 10-run mercy rule.

Hillsborough awaits tonight's Foster City-San Mateo American winner in Thursday's championship game. SM American, which eliminated Palo Alto National 10-4 on Tuesday, meets Foster City tonight at Middlefield Park at 5:30 p.m. Hillsborough is seeking its fourth D-52 11-and-12-year-old title in five years. Foster City last won the district title in 1992. San Mateo American won its only title in 1970.

"We can come back," Foster City manager Rick Kelly said. "We have the pitching. Baseball is still a game played by little kids. The Hillsborough pitcher pitched a great game."

Hillsborough's Grant Goodman preserved his four-inning no-hitter when he stuck out his glove to rob Foster City's Stephan Ostrowski of a hit in the top of the first. Ostrowski, the game's leadoff hitter, couldn't have hit the ball any harder unless he shot it out of a cannon.

After that, the hardest-hit ball by a Foster City batter was by Brendan Toy in the fourth inning. Toy's drive to left drew some initial cheers from Foster City fans, but Hillsborough left fielder Andrew Segre made a smooth catch about 10 yards in front of the fence while battling a tough sun, the ball dying a bit. Goodman, using a crisp fastball and a filthy breaking pitch, struck out seven hitters of a possible 12 outs. He walked two batters and hit one - Freddie Whitman with two outs in the third inning.

"I was hitting my spots," Goodman said. "My fastball was OK."

"Grant pitched great," said Hillsborough's Austin Marcus, who had two hits and scored twice. "He came out and threw strikes."

Hillsborough blasted three home runs for the second straight game. Henry Caruso, Marcus and Chris Mark all hit singles to left field, setting things up for Ferrari. The Hillsborough third baseman swung at the first pitch from Foster City's Connor Hulbert and drove the ball over the center field wall for a grand slam. It was Ferrari's fourth home run of the tournament and 10th of the year.

"It was my first time I ever had (a grand slam)," Ferrari said. "He left it up."

"Frankie got us untracked early with that home run," Hillsborough manager Jeff Cozad said. "It has been someone different every game."

Goodman wristed one out on a nothing-nothing count in the second inning, a high-arcing drive that came down on the other side of the center-field fence for two more Hillsborough runs. It was Goodman's fifth homer of the tourney. Ferrari added an RBI double in the inning, giving him five RBIs for the game.

Mark belted a monster shot in the third inning, the ball sailing over the American flag and into the trees for a three-run round-tripper. Will Reilly, who had two hits, singled in a run right before Brenden Barrows had scored on a wild pitch as Hillsborough plated six runs in the frame. In four tournament games, Hillsborough has scored 48 runs, an average of 12 per game.

"We're seeing the ball well at the plate," Cozad said. "We can hit the fastball, but we're adjusting to the breaking pitch much better. And Grant was masterful on the mound. Our kids have played in big games before. They've played in about 40 all-star games combined the past three years. They are seasoned players."

The Hillsborough players are confident, but they're not about to get too confident.

"We know that if we lose on Thursday, anything is possible," Goodman said. "We need to come out to play."

"We had to beat Foster City twice last year to win the 11-year-old tournament," Cozad said. "We had lost our first game of that tournament, then came all the way through the losers bracket, so we know that it can be done. Foster City is a great group of guys who are well-coached. They play the game the way it should be played. (Tonight) just happened to be our night."



E-mail John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com.



Foster City 000 0 - 0 0 1

Hillsborough 436 X - 13 14 0

Hulbert, Carreon (2), Monte (3) and Santos; Goodman and Mark. WP-Goodman. LP-Hulbert. 2B - Ferrari (H). HR - Goodman, Mark, Ferrari (H). 3 hits - Ferrari (H). 2 hits - Marcus, Mark, Reilly (H). 5 RBI - Ferrari (H). 3 RBI - Mark (H). 2 RBI - Goodman (H).