Plata, Knights walk off Wilcox

Nate Plata scored Dominic Myung from second base on a line-drive single to centerfield in the eighth inning as The King's Academy posted a come-from-behind victory over Wilcox Thursday at MacDonald High in Santa Clara.

"It was a nice come-from-behind win, but we need to play better," said Greg Mugg, coach of The King's Academy.

The Knights squandered an early lead and had to rally late to force extra innings before Plata delivered the game winner.

The victory boosted the Knights into Saturday's championship game of the Ted Tamone Memorial Tournament, where they'll face the host Santa Clara Bruins at 7:15 p.m.

Plata, the reigning Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division's player of the year, had four hits – none bigger than his walk-off single.

The King's Academy trailed 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh but mounted a rally that began with a Plata single. Ethan Johnon reached first on an error and Toby Trotter singled to left to score Plata.

After Johnson moved to third on an error by the pitcher, Cyrus Sid tied the game with a single.

The Knights jumped to an early lead with Trotter on the mound, but Wilcox chased the senior southpaw in the third by scoring five runs.

W: Kinoshita. L: Roque. 4 hits- Plata (TKA). 2 hits- Linquist (TKA).3 RBI- Argel (W). 2 RBI- Plata (TKA). 3B- Argel.

Burlingame 11, San Mateo 0

Slade Flores has two hits and drove in three as the Panthers opened the season with their second straight victory.

Grayson Howard set the table for Burlingame by collecting a hit and two walks, while scoring twice and stealing three bases.

Mark O'Grady had two hits, while Drew Gall and Flores added doubles.

W: Vorrises. L: Louie. 2 hits- Flores (B), O'Grady (B). 3 RBI- Flores. 2B- Gall (B), Flores (B).

Carlmont 2, Sacred Heart Cathedral 1

The Scots opened the season with a walk-off win. They plated their run in the bottom of the seventh Zach Luzzo singled home Henry Massey.

Massey led off the inning with a double, was bunted to third by Jason Tofigh and scored on Luzzo's hard ground ball up the middle.

Nate Werbinski scattered four hits over six innings, allowing just one run, while striking out three.

Sacred Heart Cathedral kept Carlmont in check by throwing three pitchers.

Quinn Middleton plated the Irish's lone run with a single down the left field line in the fifth inning to tie the game at 1.

Levi Wellman had an RBI double in the second inning to give the Scots a 1-0 lead.

W: Massey. L: Vigo. 2 hits- Debrunner (SHC), Koutoulas (C), Luzzo (C). 2B- Massey (C), Baseman (SHC), Lewis (SHC).

Terra Nova 4, Riordan 4

This one was far more exciting than kissing your sister, but both teams left the field feeling they could have won.

Terra Nova believes that Chase Oliver's sixth-inning three-run home run bounced over the fence – Riordan coach Craig Sargent actually saw it the same way – should have resulted in a ground-rule double instead of a game-tying run blast, while Riordan protested the game being called by darkness when it had the winning run in scoring position in the seventh.

"Jared (Milch, the Terra Nova coach) got hosed on the home run and we got hosed at the end of the game," Sargent said.

Overall, it was a strong showing by both teams.

The Crusaders, who haven't won many games in the last 10 years, nearly opened the season with their second straight win over a team ranked in PeninsulaPrepBaseball.com's Sweet 16.

Nathan Zuromski added a home run for the Crusaders (1-0-1).

Wes McDougal had two hits for the Tigers, who were opening their season. Brody Finale had a single and three walks for Terra Nova (0-0-1).

2 hits- McDougal (TN), Zuromski (R). HR- Chase Oliver (R). Nathan Zuromski (R) 3 RBI- Oliver.

Hillsdale 12, Westmont 3

Hugo Guzman shined both on the mound and at the plate as the Knights rebounded from a season-opening loss on Tuesday.

Guzman allowed three runs on three hits while striking out 10 in six innings of work. Offensively, he had three hits and drove in four.

Bennett Young and Curtis Lee had two hits each, while Tommy Schultz had two RBI.

W: Guzman. L: Hines. 3 hits-Guzman. 2 hits- Young, Lee. Schultz. 4 RBI- Guzman. 2 RBI- Schultz. 2B-Belloni.