Jul 2, 2008

Gretter's double gives San Bruno victory

By Greg Lydon / Daily News Correspondent

Tim Gretter only needed a fly ball to bring in the game-winning run for his 13-year-old San Bruno Pony League All-Stars. The slugger dug his heels into the batters box and hit a San Carlos offering into the air just like his coach wanted. He got nearly all of the pitch as his shot bounced just shy of a walk-off two-run homer. Instead, the ground-rule double in extra innings plated teammate Paul Murray as San Bruno came from behind to defeat San Carlos 4-3 in nine innings Tuesday evening at McGarvey Field in Redwood City.

San Bruno trailed 3-1 the majority of the game, but two scores in the sixth inning, including a rare infield sacrifice fly, tied the score 3-3.
In the second inning of extras, San Bruno pushed across the winning run in dramatic fashion to advance to today's winners-bracket final against South San Francisco.

"It was a very tough way to lose a game," San Carlos coach George Descalso said. "We left 12 runners on base. You can't miss opportunities like that. We gave them a chance to get back in the game, and they did."

Jordan Jauregui drilled an RBI single up the middle to pull San Bruno within one run in the sixth inning.

The ball took a big hop over the glove of the San Carlos center fielder, the friendly bounce allowing Jake Steenvoorde to score.

Then a deep pop-up to the edge of the infield by Gretter was caught for the second out by the San Carlos second baseman, but an alert base running move by Jauregui at third base to tag on the catch gave San Bruno the tying run on an infield sacrifice fly.

"I've never seen a run scored like that before," Descalso said.
Neither side scored in the seventh or the eighth innings.

After a quick inning of relief in the ninth from the San Bruno defense, San Bruno had a chance to complete its comeback.

Paul Murray led off the frame with a single to left, then stole second and third to put himself in prime scoring position with no outs. Gretter followed with a deep shot into the right-field corner, sending San Carlos into the losers bracket and bringing San Bruno one step closer to the championship round.

"I'm very happy with the way our guys fought back to win this game," San Bruno coach Sean Scott said. "Their pitcher did an excellent job holding us down for most of the game, but the middle of the lineup came through for us in the end. I'm very happy with the heart of our lineup. They got the big hits to get us the win."

Ian Anderson pitched 5 1/3 strong innings for San Carlos, allowing two earned runs while striking out seven.

San Carlos will play Pacifica today at 5 p.m. in a losers-bracket elimination game. San Bruno will play South San Francisco at 7:30 p.m. following the San Carlos game.

"We've had trouble with South San Francisco the last couple of years," Scott said. "They always play mistake-free ball and are a well-coached group."