Publication Date: Friday, July 16, 2004
BASEBALL ROUNDUP
Palo Alto pins down title in district finale
Palo Alto pins down title in district finale
(July 16, 2004) All-stars capture 9-10 crown by winning seven games in eight days, topped by 6-2 victory
by Keith Peters
It started more than a week ago when Palo Alto National was knocked into the consolation bracket of the District 52 Majors 9-10 All-Star Tournament.
Tournament director Mike Piha came up with an idea for host Palo Alto to give T-shirts and pins to the opposing teams that were eliminated by PA National.
As it turned out, a lot of pins and T-shirts wound up being handed out by Palo Alto, which went on to win seven games in eight days and capture its first 9-10 title since the tournament's inception in 1996.
The clincher came Wednesday night in a 6-2 triumph over Hillsborough at Middlefield Ballpark. Hillsborough had been undefeated in the double-elimination tourney until Palo Alto handed the visitors an 8-5 defeat on Tuesday to force the extra challenge game.
As was the case in every game during Palo Alto's march through the consolation bracket, the hosts handed out pins and T-shirts to the Hillsborough players after the game.
"That was sort of our yell, since our first loss: Give 'em the pin," said Dave Goldman, one of Palo Alto's coaches. "They used it a lot in practice."
After losing to Hillsborough on July 3 in the second game of the tournament, Palo Alto probably didn't practice a whole lot. Starting on July 7, Palo Alto began a remarkable winning streak that not only would stretch the imagination, but any decent pitching staff.
When it came time to face Hillsborough again in Tuesday's showdown, Palo Alto decided to save No. 1 pitcher Graham Marchant for a possible challenge game the following night. That strategy would only look wise, of course, if Palo Alto won that first game.
And Palo Alto did. Austin Braff provided a standout pitching effort in relief and Matthias Schmutz made a fine running catch in centerfield in the sixth inning to end a threat and hand Hillsborough its first loss.
That victory allowed Marchant, Palo Alto's top pitcher, to take the mound Wednesday in one final showdown. He came into the game with a 3-0 tournament record and 1.29 ERA.
"We decided, that if it got down to the end, that we needed to have our best pitcher ready if we wanted to win it," Goldman said. "So, we saved him for that last game. Plus, he needed some rest."
The extra rest evidently helped as Marchant threw only 33 pitches the first four innings while taking a 6-0 lead and no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth, when Hillsborough picked up its first hit.
When Marchant finally showed signs of tiring in the bottom of the sixth, Hillsborough strung together three hits after two were out and scored two runs. Marchant, however, struck out the next batter - only his third strikeout of the game -- and the championship was clinched.
Marchant faced only 22 hitters and walked none. The key was to keep the ball low and force as many groundouts as possible.
"They liked the high pitches," Goldman said of Hillsborough. "So, we kept the ball low."
Eleven of the 18 outs by Hillsborough came on groundouts. Palo Alto's infield of first baseman James Huber, second baseman Freddy Avis, shortstop Austin Braff and starting third baseman Jack Witte was flawless. Avis led the way at the plate with a big three-run homer over the centerfield fence in the third, and later tripled in the fifth and scored on a double by pinch-hitter Kevin Khannappan.
Palo Alto grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first on back-to-back doubles by Marchant and Drake Swezey and made it 2-0 in the second when Avis was hit by a pitch and eventually came home on a single by Witte.
Palo Alto will open play in the Section 3 Tournament on Saturday at the San Lorenzo National Little League Field (1100 Grant Avenue) at 1 p.m.
Babe Ruth
The Palo Alto 13-year-old all-stars were knocked into the consolation bracket of the NorCal State Tournament in Antioch on Tuesday following a 14-1 loss to Tri-Valley. Palo Alto played last night, needing a victory to reach tonight's game against the tournament's undefeated team.
Sam Knapp had two of Palo Alto's five hits and Kevin Viegas drove in the lone run.
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