But what happened Thursday might have been too much.
Twice he took over pitching duties when the District 52 Junior Little League All-Star title game got intense. Twice he came through with flying colors.
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Half Moon Bay advances to the Section 3 Tournament, playing its first-round game of the five-team tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday at Kennedy High School in Fremont, against the winner of the District 57 Tournament. The tournament winner should have been determined by Tuesday. Results of the tournament were not available at press time.
Half Moon Bay returns to Fremont Sunday to play in either a winners bracket game at 10 a.m. or losers bracket game at 2 p.m.
Half Moon Bay defeated Pacifica two days earlier, 4-1, behind the three-hit pitch of Brett Berghammer. The left-hander walked one, hit a batter and struck out seven.
Half Moon Bay collected three of its six hits in the third, scoring twice to take the lead for good.
The win set up Thursday’s title game. With both teams struggling to get their offenses going, any scoring opportunity was valuable.
Pacifica got two runners on base in the second but couldn’t finish the job, thanks to Mike Rupert.
Half Moon Bay took the lead in the second as Sam Vaughn doubled, went to third on an infield out and scored on Cole Watts’ suicide squeeze.
Half Moon Bay maintained its 1-0 lead after three innings, despite committing two errors. But Half Moon Bay’s third error of the game allowed Pacifica to score two unearned runs in the fourth. Harwood took over from Rupert, with two outs and the bases loaded. Five pitches later it was over, as Harwood induced Tony Alfaro to hit a routine fly to Watts in left.
Half Moon Bay took the lead for good, thanks to some good luck. Berghammer led off with a triple and tied the score on a wild pitch.
Henry Fassinger followed with a walk and stayed on first as Half Moon Bay’s next two batters struck out.
Zac LeBlanc struck out on a 3-2 pitch, but the ball got by the Pacifica catcher.
“At first, I thought the ball was in his glove,” LeBlanc said. “The team told me to run hard to first. I thought I was going to have to slide. I breathed a sigh of relief when I was safe at first.”
Fassinger jetted his way to third. He didn’t stay there too long.
“As soon as the ball was in the dirt, I took off,” he said.
He scored the lead run standing up.
Pacifica got runners on first and second when Harwood was brought in to pitch again. He fell behind the lead-off batter 2-0, before getting the second out on a pop to Rupert at third.
One pitch later, a ground ball to Fassinger at shortstop was scooped up by Watts at first, and Half Moon Bay won the title.
“Those intense moments were not easy,” Harwood said. “But my teammates always had my back.”
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