On his dad's birthday, and with his team playing Sunnyvale Metro in the District 44 all-star tournament loser's bracket quarterfinals on July 9, Cantwell clubbed a grand slam that helped send his team to a date with Los Altos in the semifinals.

Cantwell's blast complemented two home runs by teammate Justin Rahn in the exciting 12-10 victory that turned out to be a back and forth offensive battle between the two teams.

Cupertino jumped out to the early lead when Rahn knocked in Alex Wu with a two-run homer in the first, but the lead would not hold for long. Metro's Bryan Yang sparked a rally in the bottom of the first with a one-out walk. Sungsoo Kim then rocketed a double over the left fielder's head to bring home Yang. With two outs, Alex Lavery blooped a single over first base to knock in Kim.

Cupertino promptly reclaimed the lead in the third when hot hitting Wu got things started with a single up the middle. Mitchell Plank then reached base on a fielder's choice, and Cantwell followed with a walk. Pinch hitter Logan Lambert then stepped up in the two-out, two-strike situation with a two-run single to left.

Metro scored one in their bottom half to make it 4-3 heading into the fourth inning, but it didn't stay that way for long. Nick Tong, Wu and Rahn delivered consecutive singles to load the bases for Cupertino. Cantwell then stepped to the plate with two outs and hit the grand slam to right-center, making it 8-3.

Nevertheless, Metro continued to rally as Andrew Ries led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to right. Ries came home from third when Cupertino chose to throw out Andre Elizondo stealing second. Ryan Marcellini then cut the lead to 8-6 with a two-run single that scored Yang and Kim—both of whom had reached base on walks.

The Cupertino hitters continued to stay hot, though, as Jay Voight and Wu delivered singles to set the stage for Rahn yet again. Rahn proceeded to blast a three-run homer that easily sailed over the centerfield fence. Cupertino added one more run to make it 12-6 when Dustin Brown doubled home Plank.

Metro refused to fade away as they mounted their own rally in the bottom of the fifth. Kevin Kidwell reached base on an error and Yasuaki Nishimoto walked to spark the two-out rally. Shawn Smith then joined the home run parade with a three-run shot to straightaway center, making it 12-9.

In the end, Metro could only muster one run in the bottom of the sixth. Cupertino's Spencer Kimball struck out the final Metro batter with the bases loaded and the tying and winning runs on base.

Rahn (3 for 4, 5 RBIs), Cantwell (2 for 2, 4 RBIs), Wu (4 for 4, 3 runs scored), and Brown (2 for 2, 1 RBI) led offense.

"I knew we could continue our hitting," said Cupertino National manager Brooke Rahn. "It was just tough being the visitor because we'd have to wonder if we put enough runs on the board."

Such was not the case for Cupertino's offense when they fell 5-4 to Los Altos on July 10. Los Altos' Bryan Macomber went the distance for the complete game victory, and the Los Altos offense jumped out to an early lead that Cupertino could not erase.

Macomber helped his cause in the first inning by hitting a bases-clearing three-run double with two outs. After Los Altos added another run to make it 4-0, Cupertino began chipping away in the bottom of the third. Rahn knocked a double that brought home one run, but did not drive home two because speedy Dustin Brown was thrown out at the plate on a great play from the Los Altos defense.

Los Altos added a run in the top of the fourth to make it 5-1, but Cantwell quickly narrowed the margin. After Plank doubled to reach base, Cantwell hit his second career homer to make it 5-3.

Cantwell wasn't done either. He led off the bottom of the sixth with a single to start what might have been a game-tying rally. After an error put runners on first and second for Cupertino, Spencer Kimball scorched a line drive that was snagged by Los Altos first baseman Sammy Meyer to double off Cupertino's runner on first.

Even then, Cupertino National still had enough wind in their sails for one more rally. After Chase Hayhurst singled, Voight knocked in a run with a single of his own. Nick Tong then almost tied the game with a hard grounder down by third base that was ruled inches foul before grounding out to seal the Los Altos victory.

"We hit the ball hard, but Los Altos made the plays," said coach Rahn. "In the end, it comes down to a game of inches."

Nevertheless, Rahn and his players had plenty of reasons to be proud as they finished fourth in the 14-team tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Cupertino National defeated Santa Clara Homestead (12-0), Los Altos (7-4) and Sunnyvale Metro.

Cupertino National's No. 2 through 5 hitters (Wu, Rahn, Plank and Cantwell) combined to go 43 for 60 with four doubles, seven home runs and 39 RBIs in five games.

In other local action, Cupertino American pulled out an 8-5 win over Santa Clara Homestead before being ousted by Sunnyvale Metro.


9/10-year-olds

It took two days to determine a winner between Sunnyvale Metro and Cupertino American in an elimination game in the loser's bracket. The July 8 game was suspended due to darkness with the score tied 9-9 after nine innings and didn't end until the next day when Metro scored three runs in the 11th inning to win 12-9. Metro then defeated Cupertino American on 7-1 on July 10 to advance to the loser's bracket semi-finals.

Cupertino American defeated Mountain View 5-4 and Sunnyvale Southern 11-0 before being ousted from the tourney. Cupertino National also recorded two victories in the tournament: a 12-11 victory over Sunnyvale National and 10-0 victory over Tri-Cities.


Senior division

Michael Mercado and Matt McCormick locked up in a real pitcher's duel, but it was Mercado winning out and leading Cupertino American to a 3-2 win over Tri-Cities in the first round of the district senior tournament.

Mercado's baserunning led to an American run in the first, but it was a triple by Jon Huizar that led to a run in the fourth that keyed the win for Cupertino.

Matt Ravadge doubled for Tri-Cities.

The key defensive play of the game came in the top of the fourth. Tri-Cities had scored a run to make it 2-1, but shortstop Mike Thurman barehanded a throw from second sacker Tim Maag to complete an inning-ending double-play to get American out of a jam.


Junior division

Brian Bedord and Shawn Voight ripped two hits apiece and Victor Thompson doubled to lead Cupertino National to a 13-5 win over Sunnyvale National in a loser's bracket game in junior division play.

Thompson was the winning pitcher, striking out three in three innings of work.