Never Say Done

July 9, Marina Field, Belmont. Matching their cross-town Nationals team in guts and determination. the Palo Alto Americans came roaring back, down 13-5 in perhaps the largest deficit in this tournament only to fall short by one run. Palo Alto jumped to an early lead in the bottom of the 2nd inning with a Russell Filter first pitch home run followed 2 batters later by Carson Leclerc's 3 run centerfield blast of his own. Big and powerful San Mateo team quickly answered with 5 runs in the very next inning , but scrappy PA replied in the bottom 3rd with a Leclerc RBI. But the San Mateo was not to be denied, as they exploded for 8 runs at their next at bat. And there, they stood after 4 innings down 13-5. "Down? Not at all" describing his team at that moment replied manager Anton Papp.

Leclerc quieted San Mateo with 3 K's in the top of the 5th and then a little roar started. Playing small ball; Sid Shashi, Andre Hyrkin, Sam Papp, and LeClerc ended up going 3 for 4. Russell Filter and Kelvin Jiang added their 2 for 4 performances, capping a 5 run bottom of the 5th.

After walking one batter, Niko Shieh stunned San Mateo again, retiring the side with only 12 pitches, keeping the score at 13-10. As the bottom of the 6th started, the Palo Alto roar was deafening. 2 more runs were added, closing the gap to 1 run. But as the old story of youth baseball goes; what quickly goes up, also sometimes ends as quick too; with 2 runners on, PA would score no more.

Credit PA coaches Anton Papp and Joe Hyrkin for guiding these experiences of a lifetime for the whole team. " I think I need to retire because it just does not get any better than this game" commented manager Anton Papp. "They wanted to prove everyone wrong,". Perhaps undersized in stature but not in heart, wait for next year; these kids are not done.