Jun 24, 2008

American squad out with bang

By Greg Lydon / Daily News Correspondent

Fans in attendance Monday night for a Little League game would've been wise to bring helmets considering the barrage of baseballs launched over the fence.

San Mateo American hit five home runs and threw two runners out at the plate, but its Little League counterparts from Pacifica matched their opponent homer-for-homer, hitting five bombs of their own for the second straight game to come out victorious 17-14 in a wild District 52 Little League Super Bowl semifinal game.

San Mateo hit three bombs in the sixth inning, but fell just short in a stirring late-inning rally.

"Everyone hits on this team," San Mateo American's Brandon Butcher said. "It was really good that my team ended the year with a big offensive game. We played really hard today. It was a great effort for our last game."

Butcher boomed a two-run homer for San Mateo American in the top of the fourth inning to give his team a 8-4 lead.

"The pitch was an inside fastball," Butcher said. "I hit it right on my sweet spot. It felt really good to hit one like that."

Keaton Moe and Cody Waterman hit solo shots in the sixth inning, while Manny Villasenor hit a two-run blast during the four-run sixth inning rally for San Mateo American.

Tyler Armstrong, Trevor Crain, Robbie Woodcock and Alex Jason all left the yard with big flys in the semifinal win for Pacifica.

Woodcock hit two homers in the game, as his two-run shot in the second gave Pacifica an early 3-2 lead while homer No. 2 in the fifth inning gave Pacifica a 13-10 lead.

"These kids have been hitting the ball great all year long," Pacifica coach Bill Armstrong said. "They never quit. We knew in this ballpark it would back a back-and-forth game. Nothing bad out there ever bothers them."

Pacifica racked up 12 hits in the game, five of them were homers.

"We've been playing this game to game," Armstrong said. "We don't worry about who we might play. It's going to be the same routine we've had all season for the championship game. A little work at the batting cage before the game and a light soft toss session in the outfield before game time on Tuesday."

San Mateo American struck first in the first inning with an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Sean Dodge to push across two scores for San Mateo.

Tyler Armstrong's two-run shot in the bottom of the first tied things up at 2-2, starting the wild surge of offense for the green-clad Little Leaguers from Pacifica.

Cal Coker rocked a grand slam over the fence in left for San Mateo American in the third inning to give his team a 6-3 lead.

Pacifica's big inning came in the fourth, when it scored seven times, including a monster three-run homer by Trevor Crain to put his team up 11-8.

The lead was cut to 11-10 in the fifth, but six more runs in the fifth by Pacifica proved too much for San Mateo to handle.

Pacifica will play Palo Alto National today at 5:30 p.m. for the District 52 Super Bowl title.