Cap tops Scots on Ciardella blast

BELMONT – Capuchino's 7-6 victory over Carlmont on Tuesday featured close calls at second base, third base and the eventual game-winning run at the plate in the eighth inning.

All were close enough to dispute, but in reality, it was Capuchino senior first baseman Travis Ciardella who had dibs on the biggest beef regarding a close call.

With Carlmont and the Mustangs tied at 2, Cap had runners on first and third with one out in the third and Ciardella at the plate. He lined one down the third-base line that appeared to be an inch or two inside the chalk.

The apparent RBI double was called foul.

"I was a little mad if I'm being honest," he said.

He stepped back into the box and on the next pitch – an up-and-in offering from Grant Goetz – turned on it and hit a three-run homer that gave the Mustangs a 5-2 lead.

Carlmont chipped away at the lead with a run in the third and three in the fourth to take a 6-5 lead that Nate Werbinski did a solid job of protecting until the bitter end.

The Mustangs found a way to force extra innings. Down to their last strike, Ciardella grounded a high-hopping single up the middle that scored Cameron Chin in the top of the seventh. Chin led off the frame with a single and was bunted to second by Andres Gomez, who had three hits in the game.

They took the lead for good in the eighth when Billy Ferreira led off with a double down the third-base line that appeared to go foul. Yulio Ceron then put down a sacrifice bunt that Werbinski fielded to the left of the mound. He wheeled and threw to third, but the umpire ruled that Ferreira beat the throw.

One out later, Chin lofted a fly ball to shallow left field. Zach Luzzo's throw to the plate was a smidge to the left and Ferreira's slide avoided the tag, giving Cap a 7-6 lead.

"We went up, we let them back in. We went up and let them back in again," said Capuchino coach Matt Wilson. "But we never stopped fighting. They just kept competing, competing, competing, and it ended up going our way today."

John Ferreira picked up the win by coming pitching four scoreless innings of relief.

Three Things We Liked

• Capuchino right fielder Cameron Chin's glove. He aggressively charged two line drives, turning hits to outs, and then stole a hit from Luzzo by charging hard on the grounder, fielding it cleanly and throwing to first for the putout. He nearly nailed Henry Massey at third base (he was charged with an error that allowed Massey to score when the throw scooted past Anakin Manuel) but ended the inning by gunning down Aidan O'Driscoll at the plate. In other words, he nearly had three outfield assists – at three different bases, mind you – in one inning. Unbelievable.
• Michael Nishikawa. With two out in the seventh and the game tied, the Carlmont second baseman made a diving stop up the middle of a Hafer grounder. He flipped it to Pano Koutoulas at second to end the inning and keep the Mustangs from scoring the go-ahead run.
• Leadoff hitters. Cap's Andres Gomez and Carlmont's Tyler Webster combined for six hits – three each – and three runs scored. Of their six hits, four of them were either bunt singles or infield hits. The table setters set their tables nicely on Wednesday.

He Said It

"With high school baseball, there are a lot of ups and downs. So, we've just got to be able to stick with it. When we get these big wins, we just have to ride the wave and keep going from there." – Travis Ciardella, senior, Capuchino.

W: J.Ferreira. L: Werbinski. 3 hits- A. Gomez (Cap), Webster (Carl), O'Driscoll (Carl). 2 hits- Ciardella (Cap). 4 RBI- Ciardella (Cap). HR- Ciardella (Cap). 2B- B.Ferreira (Cap), J.Tofigh (Carl), L.Tofigh (Carl).

The King’s Academy 6, Burlingame 3

Toby Trotter went six innings, striking out six and scattering eight hits as The King's Academy snapped a two-game losing streak with a win on the road.

Nate Plata had three hits to pace the Knights offensive attack.

The King's Academy broke open the game with four runs in the fourth inning. Ty Petersen walked and Caleb Kong singled. Dominick Myung, Justin Cho and Plata followed with consecutive RBI singles – all of them up the middle.

Mark O'Grady, Roberto Beltranena and Grayson Howard had two hits each for Burlingame (7-9)

W: Trotter. L: Trautwein. S: Johnson. 3 hits- Plata (TKA). 2 hits- O'Grady (B), Howard (B), Roberto Beltranena (B). 2B- Philibosian (B).

Hillsdale 3, Sacred Heart Prep 2

Jake Belloni struck out 11 over six innings of work as Hillsdale topped Sacred Heart Prep to stay without striking distance of first-place Menlo-Atherton.

The Knights got single runs in three innings. Sophomore catcher Jackson Snodgrass had a run-scoring single and Hillsdale (10-7) added an insurance run in the seventh on a Bennett Young triple to right field and an infield grounder.

Rallin Covey took the loss but struck out six in three innings of work.

W: Belloni. L: Covey. S: Schultz. 3 hits- Schultz (H). 2 hits- Bonner (H), Affrunti (SHP). 3B- Young (H). 2B- Minahan (H).

Menlo-Atherton 5, Sequoia 2

The Bears completed the sweep of the Ravens with a come-from-behind win. Trailing 3-0, they scored four runs against Morgan Winfield in the fourth inning to take control of the game.

With two out in the fourth, Jack Molise, the hero of Monday's extra-inning win with an eighth-inning grand-slam homer, walked. Will Roberts then singled. MJ Ellazar followed with a two-run double to cut Sequoia's led to one, 3-2.

Walks to Masataka Shudo and Jack Wilbanks loaded the bases. Gianni Olivero then hit a grounder to the right side that went for an error and allowed two runs to score.

Anthony Kabrich came on in relief of Wes Peterson and threw three scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and pitched to nine batters, the minimum, to pick up the victory. Jimmy Zaharias picked up a save with a clean seventh inning.

W: Kabrich. L: Winfield. S: Zaharias.** 2 hits-** D.Ostrander (S), Roberts (MA). 2 RBI- Ellizar, Fausto (S). (MA). 2B- Olivero (MA), Ellizar (MA).