Jun 25, 2008

Hillsborough celebrates Super Bowl victory

By Julio Lara / Daily News Correspondent

Tuesday's win over Redwood City Nationals marked the first postseason tournament victory for the 9- and 10-year-old Hillsborough All-Stars, but you couldn't tell by the way they celebrated.

In true championship fashion, coach Brian Farr and his boys broke out the bubbly, in the form of apple cider, to commemorate the 7-4 victory in the District 52 Minors Super Bowl Tournament hosted by Foster City. The winners splashed cider all over the infield, enjoying themselves like they had just won the World Series.

"The tradition continues," Darr said, alluding to Hillsborough's recent success in District 52. "This is something these kids are going to remember for the rest of their lives."

It was a come-from-behind victory for Hillsborough, although that deficit came in the first inning - a lead they quickly erased thanks to a Michael Spence double in the top of the second.

Come the top of the third, Hillsborough, which came in knowing it was probably going to have to score a bunch against a good-hitting Redwood City team, found a way to increase its lead. Joe Klein walked to start the inning and Michael Adams followed with a one-out single. Will Lambson, batting in the three hole for Hillsborough, delivered the inning's big blow, a triple that scored Klein and Adams. Lambson touched home shortly after on a wild pitch to give his team a 4-1 lead.

But Redwood City didn't make it all the way to the championship game on a whim. They responded in the bottom of the third by doing what people who watched the Foster City tournament had become accustomed to: hitting the snot out of the baseball.

With one out, Eric Langi muscled up and went yard to make it 4-2. After a Hillsborough error, and a pitching change followed by a walk, Garrett Matsuda delivered a clutch double to right-center field, tying the score at four.

While it looked like Redwood City had found the groove that got them to the championship, the three-run inning proved to be a flash in the pan as their bats would not produce any more runs the rest of the way.

"We didn't get the breaks," Redwood City coach Rick Carbonneau said. "Our bats didn't come alive tonight. We went cold. That is a great Hillsborough team."

Hillsborough played good enough on defense to hold off the high-octane Redwood City attack - and that started with their pitching.

Caelan Lietz started, pitching 2-plus innings. He was relieved by Adam Sancsek who proved to be the biggest contributor on the mound, pitching during the innings when Redwood City couldn't put together a run of hits. And Brendan Garrett came in with one out in the sixth and his team in a jam. He proceeded promptly to get a ground ball to short that turned in a 6-5-4 double play.

"We were really lucky to have three of our best pitchers available for this game," Farr said.

Hillsborough broke the 4-4 tie in the top of the fifth when Lietz hit a sinking liner to center that turned into a RBI triple. They bought two runs of insurance off the bats of Jon Hall and Klien, who both had late-inning hits to drive in key runs.

"Tonight, they made the key plays," Carbonneau said. "They just quieted our bats."

The win marks the third different Hillsborough age-group team to win a postseason tournament in a span of two years. Jeff Cozad's squads have captured tournament wins in 10- and 11-year-old groups, defeating Foster City teams each time.