Jun 22, 2008

Jason's pair of homers pushes Pacifica to win

By Julio Lara / Daily News Correspondent

Pacifica American's Alex Jason came up during the bottom of the sixth inning with the opportunity to hit for the cycle - an impressive feat no matter what level of baseball you play.

Jason proceeded to line a shot to center field that gave him a legitimate shot at the triple. But instead of stopping at third, Jason rounded the bag and headed home, where he safely scored Pacifica American's 16th run. When asked if he regretted not stopping at third, Jason said. "I don't care, we scored the run."

Pacifica scored a lot of runs, 17 to be exact, en route to beating Redwood City Highlanders 17-6 in round one of the San Mateo Super Bowl Tournament on Saturday at Lakeshore Park in San Mateo.

"They hit the ball really well," Highlanders coach Terry Stafford said. "We hung in there, but there are a lot of innings in a game."

What Stafford means is the Highlanders actually had a 5-2 lead evaporate on them - from innings four through six, Pacifica exploded for 18 hits - it's like they couldn't stop scoring.

Pacifica scored four times in the fourth, five in the fifth and six in the sixth, this after surrendering a four spot to Redwood City in the bottom of the third. The Highlanders scored those runs without the benefit of a hit.

That lack of focus seemed to fuel the Pacifica offense.

Jason wasn't the only one to have a spectacular day at the plate for Pacifica. Trevor Crain went 4 for 5 and did his best Omar Vizquel impression at short to end the game in emphatic fashion for Pacifica, and Robbie Woodcock went 3-for-4.

But Jason was the story of the afternoon - his two home runs were part of a 5-for-5 game. When asked if he prefers racing around the bases for a home run or taking the ultimate trot home, Jason said, "I'll go with half, half."