Lowell’s Luca Tieman scores the go-ahead run on a wild pitch during his team’s 2-1 win over Lincoln in the San Francisco Section/AAA championship game at Oracle Park on Monday.
Ethan Kassel
Lowell players show off their hardware earned with a 2-1 victory over Lincoln at Oracle Park in the San Francisco Section/AAA championship game.
Mitch Stephens/For the S.F. Chronicle
After the final swing and a miss Monday, Lowell pitcher Cecil Reed didn’t just throw his mitt into the air. He slammed it onto the perfectly manicured turf at Oracle Park — like an NFL receiver spiking the ball after a touchdown — to celebrate his team’s 2-1 win over arch-rival Lincoln in the San Francisco Section/Academic Athletic Association championship game.
The mitt slam, followed by a two-minute, free-for-all team celebration that started in front of the mound and ended in center field, was a yearlong Cardinal party in the making.
After all, Lincoln had a similar joyous dance the previous season after a 4-1 win over Lowell, a school that has dominated not only the Mustangs but the AAA for decades.
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“We had a big dislike for the other team and that result from last year,” Reed said. “And that caused a fire to be burnt under us.”
Reed seemed to burn brightest and hottest as the senior was brilliant in three innings of relief, facing the minimum nine batters with four strikeouts, including three in the seventh to preserve Lowell’s 23rd section title and 10th in 12 seasons.
Lowell (23-5), which outscored 12 AAA opponents 165-7 during the regular season, now waits two weeks for the Northern California playoffs to begin. Lincoln finished 14-13.
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“Last year’s game definitely played into the game today,” said first-year Lowell head coach Michael Sera, formerly a longtime assistant with the program. “The kids were really hurt last year. It was their mission all year to get back here and win it. I tried to instill in the players that you never may get this opportunity to play here again, so make sure you make the most of it. The kids definitely did that.”
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Despite being largely dominated in two previous meetings this season by a combined 16-2 score, the Mustangs made Lowell sweat, especially losing pitcher Mason Wong, who allowed seven hits but just one earned run over six frames.
He stranded eight runners, including the bases loaded in the third.
Lowell’s go-ahead run to break a 1-1 tie came in the fifth when Luca Tieman reached on an error, was sacrificed to second by Auden Szalva, moved to third on a grounder to the right side by Reed, and scored on a wild pitch.
A sun double by Lowell’s Hagen Huang in the first eventually led to a run-scoring groundout by Tieman for the other run Wong allowed. Lincoln tied it in the third off Lowell starter Szalva as Jerry Hou walked, stole second, took third on an error and scored on a wild pitch.
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Wong “is one of my favorite pitchers,” said Lincoln coach James Burke, a Lowell graduate and former Cardinals assistant who coached with Sera. “He attacks. He’s a gamer. He gave us a shot to win it.”
Reed made sure they didn’t, attacking the zone quickly and effectively. He retired the side in the fifth on four pitches, gave up a single to Wyatt Toloski in the sixth but induced a double play started by shortstop Reggie Fong.
Reed quickly struck out two in the seventh, then Lincoln freshman Duwan Fields fouled off three pitches before finally striking out to end it. Fields had earlier doubled.
“That was a great at-bat by him,” Reed said of Fields. “He fought off three pitches but I just switched up my slider on the last one. You don’t want to think too much out there. My arm felt really good. I’ve been building up since last year. It was a great way to end it.”
Sera said Reed was the right man to finish the job.
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“We call him ‘Iceman’ for a reason,” Sera said of Reed. “He’s that kind of guy that no moment will be too big. He loves the big moment and is always ready to pitch.”
Freelance writer Mitch Stephens has covered high school sports for the Chronicle since 2001. Email: mitch@scorebooklive.com