Wednesday Jul 23

San Mateo's title hopes remain

5-time champions beat Palo Alto in elimination game

By Vytas Mazeika / Daily News Staff Writer

The 19-and-under American Legion Area 2 Tournament host was down, but not out. With the season on the line, Palo Alto trailed San Mateo at Baylands Athletic Center on Tuesday night by just three runs after six innings. Then San Mateo's Cody Larson happened.

With a loud three-run homer, Larson doubled his team's lead and turned a close affair into a runaway 15-4 victory.

"The score at the time was 7-4, and we knew this team can come back; this team wasn't going to go away," said Larson, a Serra-San Mateo High product. "So we needed something to put them away. And luckily that three-run homer pretty much killed them. They didn't seem to be able to do anything after that."

San Mateo plays Burlingame today at 4:30 p.m. in an elimination game. The winner moves to the 7:30 p.m. championship game, where Redwood City awaits.

Larson's home run was part of a six-run inning that gave San Mateo the momentum for good, as it scored the final eight runs of the game.

"I think it was equally big for Cody because earlier this spring he had been struggling in high school baseball," San Mateo manager Mike Chanteloup said. "And he's made some adjustments in the last couple of weeks. He sought out a little different advice from a different person and they really connected well. ... He's been pretty much the Cody that we saw last year in summer ball."

Larson's one-out blast followed his two-run double from the third inning, giving him a game-high five RBIs.

"I just need good pitches to hit," said Larson, who is debating playing for either Skyline College in San Bruno or Canada College in Redwood City. "I let the bad pitches go, hoping maybe that later on I'd see a better pitch. And I ended up getting that. Both of them gave me a fastball right down the middle."

Larson's big day was contagious, as every single batter in the San Mateo lineup picked up a hit - plus pinch-hitter Alex Sortwell (Aragon High), whose two-run double was part of the back-breaking seventh inning.

It was a 19-hit attack that had eight players record at least one RBI. Timothy Quiery went 4-for-6 on the day with a double and three RBIs.

Palo Alto actually led 3-2 after a two-run single from Kyle Einfalt tied things in the bottom of the first and a fielder's choice scored Steven Burk to put the hosts ahead in the bottom of the second.

But Burlingame regained the lead for good on Larson's two-run double, part of a four-run third inning. Designated hitter Brett Montague doubled in another run in the top of the sixth to make it 7-3, though Palo Alto's Kevin Dexter manufactured a run of his own by hitting a double, stealing third and scoring on a groundout. His effort kept the deficit at just three runs before Larson's big blast and San Mateo's six-run seventh inning.

"We knew we didn't have the best pitching and that we'd have to come out and do it with the bats," said Palo Alto catcher Tony Piha, a St. Francis-Mountain View product who hit a single and a double plus drove in a run. "I thought we fought well throughout the season. We had some ups and down, but overall it went well. We finally started bonding together, and I thought we could put it together in the end. It just didn't work out."

San Mateo starting pitcher Andrew Leary fought his way to the victory, settling down after a rough first inning in which four runners reached base during a two-out, two-run rally.

"We challenged him when he came in," Chanteloup said of a conversation in the dugout after the opening frame. "I think he did a workman's-like job."

Leary went six innings, scattering eight hits and three walks while striking out five. Brandon Bielagus came in to pitch three scoreless innings of relief, allowing only three singles and striking out one.



E-mail Vytas Mazeika at vmazeika@dailynewsgroup.com.