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San Mateo baseball team visits sister city in Japan for Little League series

August 20th San Francisco Examiner Article

11_08_20_San_Francisco_Examiner

A Fond Farewell to our Friends!

As we quickly approach our final goodbyes to our friends in Toyonaka I thought I would leave everyone with a speech that I gave at last night’s farewell party:

“On behalf of the adult delegation and our boys, I would like to thank the City of Toyonaka, The Toyonaka Sister City Association, The Physical Education Association, The Boys Baseball Association and more importantly, the host families for once again providing us with an exciting and rewarding week in your lovely city.

It feels like yesterday our boys were meeting their host families at the Senrti Gymnasium  for the first time. In just one weeks time, we’ve played six games (3 wins Toyonaka, 3 wins San Mateo), learned a Bon Dance, played Taiko Drums, toured Nara, bowed to deer, and had deer bow to us, listened to music from Okinawa, met the mayor and toured City Hall, and our boys have been able to do so many more things that we’ll never know about…and maybe shouldn’t know about.

The cultural experiences that have taken place in this short week cannot be valued, instead everyone in this room have participated in priceless memories that I hope can bring us all closer together to strengthen our bonds of friendship. 

To our host families, thank you for opening your homes and caring for our boys as if they were your own. 

To all of you in this room, when we first heard about the tragedy that struck your great country in March, our hearts reached out to you and we continue to extend our hands in offering help, support or any other way to help your great country continue in the recovery efforts.  Our association raised some money for the relief effort that we would like to present to you tonight in addition to other donations that we bring on others behalf.  We hope you realize we are all in this together.

As we prepare to leave tomorrow, I take with me the pictures of Rose Stadium where the flags of our two countries fly in peace and the team post game photos of both teams joined as one.  Although our two cities are separated by thousands of miles of ocean, the hearts of our people will forever be joined as one.  In two years, our cities will mark the 50^th Anniversary as Sister Cities.  We hope to see many of you there to celebrate.  Domo Arrigato Gozymas. “

As part of the Farewell Dinner, The Toyonaka Boys Ball Association chose two MVPs from the San Mateo team. The 2011 team MVPs were RJ Babiera and Jordan Pluchar. Also, we celebrated Payton’s birthday!!! 

The team arrives Thursday at 11:38 AM after already enjoying a great Thursday here in Japan.  See you all soon and thank you for all your support for this wonderful experience. Our boys will never forget this!

San Mateo Evens Series, Takes Finale 7-3

Behind a solid five inning, no earned run performance on the mound by RJ Babiera, San Mateo evened the series in the sixth and final contest in Toyonaka, Japan on Monday morning, 7-3, vs. the Toyonaka East/North All-Stars. The win brings San Mateo to 3-3 in the series.

Like yesterday in game one, the San Mateo bats came to play right from the first pitch. Kyle Mejasich led off the inning with an infield single and quickly swiped second one pitch later. Matt Averill followed with a single to and then stole second to give San Mateo runners on second and third. One pitch later, Jordan Pluchar sent a shot to center for his second triple of the series, plating both Mejasich and Averill. Babiera followed with an infield single to help his cause and bring in Pluchar and later scored himself on a Langston Swiecki single to right. Before anyone had time to settle in, San Mateo had a 4-0 lead and never looked back.

Toyonaka added a rally of their own on some poor San Mateo defense, cutting the San Mateo lead in half, 4-2.

The scoring outburst was not done for San Mateo. In the very next inning, Trey Kujiroaka led off the inning with a single to left field. Ryan Simons then stepped up to the plate and sent a shot to left field for San Mateo’s third inside the park homerun of the series. With one out, Mejasich walked and again came around to score when Averill doubled to left for this second hit of the game. 

With San Mateo now ahead 7-2, they would not need any more offense to seal the win.

Toyonaka did manage one more unearned run in the fifth, but that was it for the rest of the game.

Babiera tossed five innings while striking out six. He did not allow an earned run. Matt Averill pitched a scoreless sixth to lock it down for San Mateo.

The game was followed up with a wonderful BBQ and Bon Dance Festival including Taiko drumming! Tomorrow, the group heads for a tour of Nara.

                            1 2  3 4  5 6

San Mateo            4 3  0 0  0 0

Toyonaka East/North   2 0  0 0  1 0

San Mateo Pitchers: Babiera, Averill(6)

WP: Babiera (1-0)

San Mateo Hits:

Singles: Mejasich, Averill, Martin, Mori, Swiecki, Novello, Kujiroaka, Constant, Fiitzgerald

Doubles: Averill

Triples: Pluchar

Homeruns: Simons

San Mateo Drop Opener, Earns Win in Night Cap

A day after splitting a double header with Toyonaka, San Mateo again split another twin bill on Sunday, dropping the opener 6-3 and bouncing back to take the night cap 7-5. With the win, San Mateo is now 2-3 on the series with one more to play tomorrow vs. the Toyonaka East/North.

In the opener, Toyonaka South, who beat San Mateo yesterday 5-4, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening frame and followed that up with another three in the third.

With one out in the bottom of the second, Alexander Rodrick singled up the middle to drive in Dakota Severson who reached earlier in the inning on a fielder’s choice.

San Mateo plated two more runs in the fifth. With one out, Cole Constant singled to left field. Kai Martin then reached base when the second baseman attempted to get Constant out on a second. Both Constant and Martin later advanced on a wild pitch. Trey Kujiraoka grounded out short to third, bringing in Constant on the play. Henry Kazan followed with a deep drive to right for a triple, bringing in Martin for the final run of the game.

Nicholas Novello went started and went three innings for San Mateo. Matt Averill followed for the final two innings.  

Due to time, the game would end after just five innings.

In the nightcap, San Mateo blanked Toyonaka West in the top of the first. They followed up with a four spot in the bottom half of the inning. Constant led off the inning with a bunt single and moved to second when Kyle Mejasich singled in the infield. With a 1-2 count and no outs, Jack Mori doubled left field, driving in both for Constant and Mejasich. Daniel Vanisi followed with a double to right, to drive in Mori, and Vanisi scored later in the inning on a two out double to left by RJ Babiera.

Toyonaka West tied the game with a pair of runs in both the second and third innings.

San Mateo would take the lead for good in the fourth. With two outs, Jordan Pluchar doubled to left to drive in Rodrick (infield single) and Ryan Simons (line drive to left). In the fifth, Langston Swiecki hit a sacrifice fly to left, driving in Kazan who led off the inning by reaching base on an error by the short stop to give San Mateo a 7-4 lead.

Toyonaka brought managed one more run in the sixth, but would not be enough as San Mateo held on win 7-5.

Mejasich threw the first four innings for San Mateo to earn the win. Kazan followed to throw the final two to earn the save.

San Mateo wraps up the series tomorrow with a single game vs. the Toyonaka East/North.

  

	1	2	3	4	5
Toyonaka South	3	0	3	0	0
San Mateo	0	1	0	0	2
San Mateo Pitchers:	Novello, Averill (4)
LP: Novello (0-1)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Martin, Novello, Averill, Simons, Rodrick, Constant Triples: Kazan

	1	2	3	4	5	6
Toyonaka West	0	2	2	0	0	1
San Mateo	4	0	0	2	1	X
San Mateo Pitchers:	Mejasich, Kazan(5)
WP: Mejasich (1-0) SV: Kazan (1)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Constant, Mejasich, Lyons, Rodrick, Babiera, Simons Doubles: Pluchar, Mori, Vanisi Triples: Pluchar

San Mateo Evens the Series in the Opener, 10-4, Drops the Nightcap, 5-4

The San Mateo brought their bats with them Saturday morning, taking Game 2 vs the Toyonaka East/North All Star Team, 10-4. The win evened up their record, 1-1. A pair of runs in the sixth of the night cap was just not enough to overcome the Toyonaka South All Star Team as San Mateo barely lost 5-4.

In the day’s opener, second baseman Cole Constant led off the game with a walk and soon stole second. With one out, Langston Swiecki doubled to left to drive in Constant and scored himself when Daniel Vanisi hit a hard ground ball to the short stop who was unable to make a play as it went into left field. Dakota Severson hit a two-out double to left field, bringing in Vanisi from second and giving San Mateo an early three run lead.

Toyonaka plated a single run in the second and three more in the third to take their only lead of the game, 4-3.

San Mateo then exploded for seven in the fourth inning. With one out, Nicholas Novello reached on an error by the pitcher. Tyler Lyons followed with solid contact that the third baseman who attempted to get Novello out at second. The throw sailed into right field, allowing both Novello and Lyons to come around to score, giving San Mateo a 5-4 lead. Henry Kazan immediately followed with a base hit and scored when Kyle Mejasich hit the first of two inside the park homeruns.

With San Mateo leading 7-4 and just one out, Jordan Pluchar hopped on the hit brigade with a single. Matt Fiztgerald followed with a walk, giving San Mateo runners at first and second. RJ Babiera hit an inside the park homerun for himself, plating Pluchar and Fitzgerald for San Mateo’s eighth, ninth and tenth runs of the game.

Ryan Simons went 3.1 strong innings for San Mateo on the hill. Kazan followed, picking up the win in relief, pitching the remaining 1.2 (Due to a time limit, the game ended after five).

In the nightcap, Toyonaka South jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first. San Mateo managed to cut the lead in half in the third. With one out, Mejasich doubled to center and was moved to third with a great sacrifice bunt by Constant. Pluchar took a 1-1 pitch to the opposite field for a single, plating Mejasich.

Toyonaka South extended their lead in bottom half of the third with a pair of runs to take a 4-1 lead.

Jack Mori led off the fourth by getting hit by a pitch. Vanisi followed with a  single to right, and Kazan moved both Mori and Vanisi along with a fine sacrifice bunt. With the count 2-0, Mori was able to score on a wild pitch to again allow San Mateo to cut the Toyonaka South Team’s lead in half.

Toyonaka South added to the lead once again with a lone and final run in the fifth.

San Mateo showed once again that there was fight left in their bats in the sixth. Alexander Rodrick led off the inning with a single up the middle. Vanisi reached on an error by the third baseman, giving San Mateo runners on first and second with no outs. One out later, Swiecki crushed a triple to deep right field, scoring both Rodrick and Kai Martin (running for Vanisi) and bringing San Mateo to within one run. The rally would unfortunately end there and San Mateo would pick up with second loss in the six-game exchange.

Mori started for San Mateo and went the first four innings. Rodrick followed to toss the final inning in relief.

San Mateo continues with another double header tomorrow, opening with the Toyonaka South followed by a nightcap with the Toyonaka West.

	1	2	3	4	5
Toyonaka East/North	0	1	3	0	0
San Mateo	3	0	0	7	X
San Mateo Pitchers:	Simons, Kazan (4)
WP: Kazan (1-0)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Pluchar, Simons, Kazan Doubles: Swiecki, Severson, Lyons HR: Mejasich, Babiera

	1	2	3	4	5	6
San Mateo	0	0	1	1	0	2
Toyonaka South	2	0	2	0	1	X
San Mateo Pitchers:	Mori, Rodrick (5)
LP: Mori (0-1)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Severson, Pluchar, Babiera, Rodrick, Vanisi, Kazan Doubles: Mejasich Triples: Swiecki

City Hall, Mayor, Dance, Tea...oh and Baseball TOO!

Toyonaka West plated two runs in the first, five in the second, three in the third and a single run in the fourth en-route to a 11-0 blanking of the San Mateo Sister City Goodwill All-Star team in Game 1 of the six-game exchange Friday night at Rose Stadium. The ballgame featured warm, humid temperatures, while also adding rain throughout the night.

Jordan Pluchar took the mound and threw three innings. Matt Averill followed Pluchar on the mound to toss the final. Neither pitcher had the benefit of good defense as San Mateo committed seven errors in the loss.

San Mateo managed just four singles in the game. RJ Babiera led off the second with a single up the middle. A fielder’s choice followed by a 3-6 double play ended the inning without any further noise.

With one out in the fourth, Kai Martin singled to left. The threat ended there as the inning expired with a San Mateo 5-4-3 double play.

A lead-off single in the sixth by Jack Mori and a one-out single in the same inning by Dakota Severson were both unsuccessful in helping San Mateo blemish the score board.

San Mateo gets right back on the field tomorrow as they take on the Toyonaka East/North in the morning followed by Toyonaka South later in the afternoon.

Earlier in the day, the boys had an opportunity to meet the Toyonaka Mayor and were presented with some gifts. That meeting was quickly followed by an extensive lesson in Japanese traditional dance and then were treated to a Japanese tea ceremony.

 The day was long and very entertaining. Our hope is that our boys get some good rest and are ready to get back on the field for the series to truly get underway!

	1	2	3	4	5	6
San Mateo	0	0	0	0	0	0
Toyonaka West	2	5	3	1	0	X
San Mateo Pitchers:	Pluchar, Averill (4)
LP: Pluchar (0-1)
San Mateo Hits:
Singles: Babiera , Martin, Mori, Severson

Hajimemashte NAME HERE des, Dozo Ya Roshiku (Hello, My Name is NAME HERE, It Is Nice To Meet You)

Last night, the boys had some free time before bed…so naturally, a card game broke out and goldfish was denomination of choice. Unclear who made out best, but the team enjoyed some nice free time with their teammates!

Today, we left hotel to meet our new and old friends in Toyonaka! Because of the Obon Festival we hit some traffic along the way, but managed to make in time for lunch. And by lunch, I’m talking about the Japanese delicacy…McDonalds! Big Macs, Quarter Pounders, Teriyaki Burgers and Shrimp Burgers oh my! Oh, and nothing completes a trip to McDonalds without a visit from Ronald McDonald himself (all the way from Tokyo).

Following lunch, we boarded the busses and made our way to the Toyonaka Recreation Center where our friends and host families were awaiting our arrival. Imagine a high school dance…boys on one side of the room and the host families on the other…both trying to figure out what was about to happen!

Pair by pair, our boys introduced themselves in Japanese to their new families for the next week. There were some hugs, but for the most part some apprehensive handshake a plenty! In one weeks time, those handshakes will all turn to hugs and many a tears!

Our boys are now in the hands of their new families, learning what it’s like to live in Japan. Tomorrow, the group will reconvene at City Hall for an opportunity to meet the Toyonaka Mayor followed by game one at Rose Stadium. From here on out, the trip begins now.

Oyasuminasai (Good Night)