It's Not About Who Wins and Loses...

Coming off a 4-1 win over the Toyonaka South-East team on Sunday afternoon, the San Mateo Baseball Exchange team dropped game five to Toyonaka West, 7-4. The loss drops San Mateo to 1-3-1 and concludes the five game series here in Toyonaka Japan.

San Mateo got on the board early in the first with a solo run. Aldo Severson led off the game with a triple over the right fielders head. He came in to score one batter later when Michael Valdes sent a fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly.

San Mateo did not manage to hold the lead for long. Toyonaka plated solo runs in the first and second, four more in the fourth and another solo run in the seventh.

San Mateo tried to mount a comeback in the sixth. Sulim Bartok led off the inning with an inside-the-park homerun to right field. Nick Toomey followed with a base hit and came around to score later in the inning on a double by Eric Fallon cut the Toyonaka lead, 6-3.

Down 7-3 in the seventh, Ian Barrie tripled to lead off the inning. Barrie scored two batters later on a fielder’s choice by Severson for the final run for San Mateo.

Michael Camel took the hill for San Mateo to start the game. He gave way to Michael Sweeney in the top of the third. Barrie pitched the final two innings to close out the game.

Tomorrow, San Mateo tours the city of Nara and concludes their trip on Wednesday with a farewell dinner.


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Toyonaka West 0 1 1 4 0 0 1 7 11 1
San Mateo 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 10 2
San Mateo Pitchers: Camel, Sweeney (3), Barrie (6)
LP: Camel (0-1)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Helbig, Toomey, Stathas, Ching, Sweeney, Ota
Doubles: Fallon,
Triple: Severson, Barrie
Home Run: Bartok

After the game, San Mateo and Toyonaka joined together as friends for a BBQ lunch where the boys were introduced to a Bon Dance. the boys were given Hapi Coats to wear for the dance and swam in a pool with their new friends.

The Sweetest Thing: Game Four

Awesome pitching by Devin Gilmore and Blake Peters and a timely inside the park, three-run homerun by Rory Beyer helped San Mateo earn its’ first win of the San Mateo/Toyonaka Sister City Exchange series, with a 4-1 win over the Toyonaka East-North Team. Gilmore earned the win after pitching 5 2/3 strong innings, striking out six and allowing one run and five hits before giving way to Blake Peters who earned the save by pitching the remaining 1 1/3 of one-hot ball for the save.



Toyonaka took the early 1-0 lead in the second inning. That lead would stand until the bottom of the fourth.

Third baseman Daniel Stathas led off the fourth inning with a triple. Gilmore, two batters later, singled to score Stathas to tie the score, 1-1.

The 1-1 tie would stand just one more inning.

Center fielder Michael Valdes led off the fifth with a base hit. Shortstop Sulim Bartok followed with a single of his own to give San Mateo base runners on first and second. One out later, catcher, Rory Beyer, sent a pitch over the left fielder which went to the base of the fence. Both Valdes and Bartok hustled around the bases to score. Beyer rounded third and was sent home and scored on a close play at the plate, giving San Mateo its’ biggest lead of the series, 4-1, and Beyer his first homerun.



That lead would be all San Mateo needed as Gilmore and Peters shut the door, assuring San Mateo its’ first victory of the 2007 Toyonaka Baseball Exchange.



Game five concludes the series with a first pitch tomorrow at 10:30 AM at Rose Stadium.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Toyonaka East-North 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0
San Mateo 0 0 1 3 0 0 X 4 11 1
San Mateo Pitchers: Gilmore, Peters (6)
WP: Gimore (1-0): S: Peters (1)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Gimore (2), Beyer, Helbig (2), Severson, Valdes, Bartok, Fallon
Triple: Stathas
Home Run: Beyer

Let's Pretend This Never Happened: Game Three

A solo homerun in the top of the fifth by Daniel Stathas was not enough as the San Mateo Toyonaka Exchange team dropped game three to the Toyonaka West team, 12-5, in a time-shortened game-one of a double header on Sunday afternoon.

San Mateo took their first lead of the series in the first inning. Pitcher Aldo Severson led off the inning with a single and scored three batters later when designated hitter Matt Helbig singled up the middle. That lead would only hold until the Toyonaka West team came to bat. They plated seven runs in the first and one more in the second.



San Mateo chipped away in the third inning when relief pitcher Michael Valdes led off the inning with a walk. He scored five batters later when catcher Tyler Storozynsky had an infield single to score Valdes from second. Helbig would also score in the inning after he reached on a hit-by-pitch and scored on a fielder’s choice.



Toyonaka scored four more runs in the third to take a 12-3 lead. San Mateo managed just one more run before the game was called on account of a two-hour time limit. Stathis lead off the fifth and sent a towering fly ball well over the left field fence for a solo home run, giving San Mateo their fourth and final run in game one.

1 2 3 4 5 R H E
San Mateo 1 0 2 1 1 4 8 3
Toyonaka West 7 1 4 0 X 12 11 2
San Mateo Pitchers: Severson, Valdes (1), Herminghaus (3)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Severson, Valdes, Helbig, Storozinski, Beyer, Ching
Doubles: Sweeney
Home Runs: Stathas

It's Like Kissing Your Sister

They say that tying a game is like kissing your sister. For the San Mateo Toyonaka Baseball exchange team, ending game two in a best of five series with teams from Toyonaka Japan, 7-7, should be considered a win. Trailing 6-1 after four innings, San Mateo plated a pair of runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth, giving them seven runs on the day. The game was called after sis innings due to a two-hour time limit.

Toyonaka took the early lead in the first inning with a single run. That lead remained until San Mateo scored their first run in the series in the third inning. Sulim Bartok singled on a line-drive to center field to open the inning and scored one batter later when Kyle Herminghaus took the first offering and sent it over the center fielders head for a double. Herminghaus was stranded at third when San Mateo failed to bring him in.



Down 6-1 to start the fifth inning, San Mateo’s Michael Camel doubled to right-center field. With two outs, Curtis Ota reached base after being hit by a pitch. Devin Gilmore drove in both Camel and Ota when he doubled to right center as well.

Still down 6-3, San Mateo had more fire left in the tank. Aldo Severson led off sixth with a base hit and advanced to second on an Eric Fallon hit ball that the second baseman could not handle properly for an error. Connor Ching executed a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance both Severson and Fallon. With runners on second and third, Michael Sweeney singled to bring home Severson and Fallon. Sweeney scored one batter later when Camel sent his second double on the day to left-center field and then advanced to third on an error by the left fielder. Camel was replaced with pinch-runner Michael Rafello who scored when Ian Barrie singled through the right side of the field for San Mateo’s seventh and final run.

Bartok started on the hill for San Mateo and went 3 2/3 strong innings. He was replaced by Nick Toomey who pitched the remaining 2 1/3 innings.

San Mateo takes the field again on Sunday at 10:30 AM for game one of a doubleheader.

1 2 3 4 5 6 R H E
San Mateo 0 0 1 0 2 4 7 11 2
Toyonaka West 1 0 0 5 1 0 7 14 2
San Mateo Pitchers: Bartok, Toomey (4)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Bartok (2), Helbig, Severson, Sweeney, Barrie
Doubles: Herminghaus, Gilmore, Peters, Camel (2)

Let the Games Begin - Game 1:

With a temporary fence in place 220 feet away and a seven-inning game in place, San Mateo played its’ first game in a new country. The San Mateo Sister City Goodwill Baseball Exchange Team battled the East-North Toyonaka team, and in the end, the East-North team defeated San Mateo 8-0. The Toyonaka team plated solo runs in the first and second, two in the fourth and four more in the sixth.

San Mateo went down in order in the first. Catcher, Daniel Stathis, took first on a base hit to right in the second with one out, but was stranded at first when San Mateo could not manage to get any other base runners. The third inning brought a similar outcome. With one out, left fielder Connor Ching reached first base after getting hit in the back with a pitch. He too was stranded at first after San Mateo went hitless in the inning.

San Mateo had their first scoring opportunity in the fifth with a one-out triple down the left-field line by right fielder Michael Sweeney. He eventually was gunned down at the plate on a fielders-choice hit to the first baseman by center fielder Sulim Bartok.

A one-out triple to deep center field by first baseman Michael Valdes in the top of the sixth was also squandered when San Mateo could not manage to bring him in with a hit. The game ended when San Mateo went down in order in the seventh.

First pitch tomorrow is slated for 10:30 AM at Rose Stadium.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
San Mateo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3
Toyonaka 1 1 0 2 0 4 X 8 8 0
L: Storozinski 0-1; Fallon (3); Rafello (6)
San Mateo Hits: Stathis (1B), Ota (2B), Sweeney (3B), Valdes (3B)

City Hall

Con Bon Wa,
We started the day by meeting the boys at City Hall. Once at City Hall, we met the mayor and other dignitaries within the City of Toyonaka. After a brief introduction and a few other speeches, we took of tour of the grounds. We got a personal guide who explained the City Council chambers as well as a tour of the roof of the City Hall. From the roof, we were able to see much of the city which really showed us all how crowded a city of Toyonaka really is.

After the amazing tour of City Hall, the boys left with their host families for lunch and some relaxing time to get them ready for our first game.

Toyonaka, Here we Come!

We started the day off with a great breakfast at our hotel in Hiroshima. From there, we boarded the fastest bullet train bound for Himeji. Once in Himeji, we got off the train and took a bus to a national treasure and a UNESCO world heritage site, Himeji Castle, otherwise nicknamed japan's "white heron". The castle was on a huge piece of land and more amazing is that it remains mostly intact. After we climbed to the top of the castle for some wonderful views of the city, we had some lunch and then boarded the bullet train once again, bound for our final destination, Toyonaka.

The Toyonaka delegation was awaiting our arrival, and once we got there, they had a banner welcoming San Mateo home.


After our welcome, we left the train station for the Toyonaka gymnasium where the boys would met their host families for the first time. Below are photos of each set of boys meeting their host families.


Tomorrow, we will all tour Toyonaka City Hall and then the games will begin. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 5PM local time. More to come with a game recap. Wish us luck and take care.

This is the Best Italian Food in the WORLD!

Good evening all. We had our first full day in Japan and spent it touring Hiroshima. We began the day with a bus ride to Miyajima Island which included a ferry ride there and back.


From Miyajima Island, we stopped off for a pizza lunch which is where the quote of the trip came from. Post meal, a conversation between a couple of the boys was overheard which contained, "this is the best Italian food in the world!" Folks, you have heard the saying, when in Rome, do as the Romans? Well, here in Japan, the new saying should be, when in Japan, eat the Italian food!

After lunch, we went to the Peace Memorial Park. There, we toured an interesting museum that taught us about the devastation that took place when the bombing in 1945 took place. We all learned a great deal. Before we left the Peace park, we learned from our tour guide about the significance of origami cranes which culminated into each one of us completing a crane of our own.



Tomorrow, we are taking the bullet train with a finale destination into Toyonaka where the boys will meet their host families and begin their journeys into the homes of a new culture. More to come tomorrow.

We Made it Safe and Sound

Well, we made it safe and sound here in Hiroshima, Japan after a fairly uneventful day. The flight was fine...albeit a tad bumpy at the end. The boys did well without soda, but when they found the chocolate snacks and ice cream sandwiches mid-flight, it was anyone's "ballgame". Somehow, someway, they have found energy from deep-down inside to think that running the halls of the hotel would be a good idea.

Parents, rest assured, your boys are doing well and looking forward to the early-morning wake-up call tomorrow for a full day of sights and sounds of Japan.

More to come later.

San Mateo Daily News Sports Articles

John Reid wrote a couple of articles last week in the Daily News about the San Mateo Toyonaka Baseball team and our trip to Japan. A preview article on the team can be found here and an article that he wrote on Michael Camel can be found here .

Ready?

We leave a week from today...are you ready for this? Stay tuned for more to come...!

The link below will contain pictures from the trip as we upload them. I hope to show you all pictures as they happen on this trip as well as update you all on the games and our general travels.

'07 Toyonaka