Jul 9, 2008

Local briefs: San Mateo tops tournament

Ratcliffe, Page provide big bats for Bulldogs

FROM DAILY NEWS DISPATCHES

The San Mateo Bulldogs 17-and-under American Legion baseball team won the Sacramento Fourth of July Tournament on Saturday with a 7-5 victory over Napa at William Land Park in Sacramento. The Bulldogs (20-7 overall, 8-2 league) advanced to the title game by beating Petaluma 5-3, Pleasant Grove 8-6, Bear River twice (12-2 and 7-6).

Matt Nichol got the win in the championship game, working five innings. Chad Ratcliffe tripled, one of his two hits, and produced three RBIs. Danny Littlejohn, Nick Sanzeri and David Mitchell each doubled. Matt Page, Mitchell and Sanzeri each had two hits for the Orioles.

Page worked five innings for the win that sent San Mateo to the final. Mitchell had two hits in that win over Bear River. Kyle Ferris and Daniel Spaizman each had two RBIs.

Page and Ratcliffe each produced two hits in the first win over Bear River, a game won by Sanzeri with two innings of relief. Sanzeri tripled in that contest, which saw two runs driven in by Ratcliffe and Page.

Ratcliffe had three RBIs against Pleasant Grove. He and Page each had two hits. Zack Grimaldi earned the win with one inning of relief work.

The tournament opened with San Mateo getting two hits from Page and Ratcliffe in the win over Petaluma. Ratcliffe had two RBIs in that game, which was won by Johnny Lloyd, who worked five innings.



Orioles belt San Bruno

The San Mateo Orioles 19-and-under American Legion baseball team beat San Bruno 10-2 on Sunday at Aragon High School in San Mateo. The Orioles' recent efforts included an 11-1 win over Dublin on Thursday and a 6-5 loss to San Bruno on Tuesday, July 1.

Bobby Hurst picked up the win Sunday as San Mateo outhit San Bruno 13-5. Hurst struck out 10 in six innings, allowing two hits and walking two.

Timothy Quiery, Ryan Allgrove, Kevin McEntee, Nick Franquez and Pierson Jeremiah all had two hits apiece for San Mateo. Jeremiah had a triple, and Alex Sortwell homered.

Craig Sargent was perfect in relief, getting all four batters he faced on ground balls, helping San Mateo improve to 18-4-1 overall, 14-2-1 in the league.

Thursday's victory came at Sacred Heart Prep High School in Atherton, where San Mateo outhit Dublin 19-3. Andrew Leary got the win, striking out seven in seven innings. He allowed just one earned run on three hits while walking four.

Leary had three hits for the Orioles, who got three hits each from Dominic Ferrando and McEntee. Grant Nelson, Scotty Kalush, Jeremiah and Franquez all had two hits.

San Mateo's loss to San Bruno saw the Orioles commit seven errors.

Allgrove had two hits and two RBIs in that game.



San Carlos marches on

The San Carlos 11-and-12-year-old all-stars won their first two games in the District 52 tournament against Ravenswood and Half Moon Bay behind outstanding pitching by Mark Concilla, Danny Cody, Jesse Austen and Anthony Toms. They dropped into the losers bracket with a 3-1 loss to Palo Alto National in a tight pitchers duel with Bradley Cook starting and Kyle Barrett closing. They have progressed through the losers bracket with two come-from-behind wins against Half Moon Bay on Saturday and Pacifica on Sunday.

On Saturday, San Carlos was tied 5-5 going into the sixth but made it 6-5 on Evan Brummer's run-scoring double and scored what proved to be the winning run when Devon Lorenzini came in as a pinch runner for Brummer, stole third, and then got in a rundown between third and home, getting out of it by sliding in safely at the plate. Brummer also had a critical double play at first base when he snagged a line drive then tagged first to get the double play.

On Sunday, San Carlos came from behind in the fourth inning with a two-out rally that included back-to-back home runs by Joe Walters and Mark Concilla and timely hits by Evan Brummer (single) and Danny Cody (two-run single).



Half Moon Bay triumphs

Geno Cochram scored on a passed ball to give Half Moon Bay a 3-2 victory over Redwood City National in the Little League District 52 13-and-14-year-old All-Stars Tournament.

Half Moon Bay's Ben Duarte and Redwood City's Anthony Hillerby were in a pitchers duel. Duarte had a no-hitter into the sixth inning that was broken up by Hillerby's two-out single. Hillerby allowed two unearned runs.

Garrett Coe had walked prior to Hillerby's hit and took third on the play, allowing Hillerby to take second on the throw to third. Duarte had reached his legal limit of 95 pitches and was facing his last batter. He had two strikes on Nick Hillerby before before he stroked a clutch two-run triple into the right-center alley to tie the game at 2-2, but he was left stranded at third.

Anthony Hillerby reached his 95-pitch limit after going 7 2/3 innings, giving up no earned runs against a good-hitting Half Moon bay team. He was replaced by Nicky Gasparini with two outs in the eighth inning and the game still tied 2-2.

Gasparini got the third out and shut down Half Moon Bay in the top of the ninth, giving RWC a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Cochram singled, stole second and took third as the throw got by the second baseman.



Hillsborough tops Paly

In an emotional ending to an amazing game, the Palo Alto National 10-and-11-year-old All-Stars lost 10-9 to Hillsborough Sunday at Pacifica after nearly erasing a 10-0 first-inning deficit. The loss eliminated Palo Alto from the District 52 tournament.

Palo Alto had shown the ability to come from behind in all three of its previous games, winning the first two against Hillsborough and Pacifica National with late-inning rallies, and just falling short against Half Moon Bay. In this, the second meeting between Hillsborough and Palo Alto, Hillsborough scored 10 runs in the first inning on a barrage of hits, including home runs by Billy Funkhouser and Nick Franco. But from that point on, Palo Alto dominated.

Corey Bicknell, who entered in relief with two outs in the first inning, held Hillsborough scoreless the rest of the way on just 37 pitches, aided by outstanding defensive play. Meanwhile, Palo Alto chipped away at the Hillsborough lead.

Isaac Kasevich was hit by a pitch to lead off the third inning, moved to second on a single by Griffin Cool and scored on a single by Kenta Yanagisawa. Andrew Robinson brought both Cool and Yanagisawa home with a double, pulling Palo Alto within 10-3. The Nationals added a run in the fifth inning on a double by Yanagisawa and singles by Robinson and Philip Lewis. That set up a dramatic sixth inning.

Trailing 10-4, Palo Alto put the first two runners on with a walk to Owen Staiger and a double by Lukas Dorward. After a groundout scored a run, Cool reached on an error, scoring Dorward to make the score 10-6. Yanagisawa walked and Robinson singled to load the bases. Then Bicknell smashed a line drive to left field for a hit, and all three runners scored when the ball got past the left fielder to bring Palo Alto within a run at 10-9. Hillsborough recorded the final out on a great play by the shortstop to end the game.

Robinson was the hitting star, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Yanagisawa went 2-for-3 and scored three runs. Robinson reached based 12 times in the four tournament games, with one home run, and Yanagisawa was on base 11 times, and hit two homers.

"I was so proud of the way our kids battled back," said Palo Alto manager Todd Lewis. "They never stopped fighting even after a disastrous first inning. They showed a lot of character throughout the tournament."



Oaks split doubleheader

The Palo Alto Oaks split a doubleheader with Fontanetti's over the Fourth of July weekend. The Oaks lost the opener 5-4 and won the nightcap 11-5. In the opener, Matt Rossignol took the loss, giving up four runs on seven hits. Rossignol struck out six batters, walked one and beaned two. The Oaks had plenty of opportunities to break the game open, but failed to get the big hit. A bases-loaded situation with no outs in the third inning hurt when the Oaks only scored one run.

In the nightcap, the Oaks scored early and often, almost ending the game on the mercy rule. Matt Campbell, just out of retirement, picked up the victory. Campbell pitched six innings and gave up only six hits and one earned run. The other four runs scored while Campbell was on the mound were unearned. There were plenty of hitting highlights in the nightcap, led by Chris Budelli's two doubles and three RBIs. Gabe Duran had two doubles and three RBIs as well. Right fielder Thomas Dore had three hits and scored two runs. Greg Matson had two hits and knocked in two runners.

Next up for the Oaks are the Seaside Bombers next Sunday at Baylands.