Serra wins in soggy fashion

SAN JOSE – This one was a grind. Two rain delays and more rain in the seventh inning. Seven pitchers and a nail-biting finish.

And Serra couldn't be happier with its 5-4 victory – its first win at Valley Christian for any player in the program.

"This is the first time I've won anything here – not even a freshman scrimmage," said senior shortstop Ian Josephson, who had three hits and a walk, stole two bases, scored a couple of runs and pitched two innings of relief in the victory. "So this one's special."

The victory improved the top-ranked Padres' record to 12-1 and started their hell week – two games with Valley and two with St. Ignatius Prep – in a fine fashion. Meanwhile, the Warrior (8-4) went through all of the same struggles with the elements as the Padres but without the happy ending. That made for a frustrating day for the home team.

"It's never easy to have to play in that weather," said Valley coach John Diatte. "That's not an excuse."

Still, the start of the game was delayed 15 minutes by rain. And then it started raining again in the top of the first inning, when Serra struck for four runs and chased Quinten Marsh from the game after 35 pitches and just two outs were recorded.

"I have to be better," Marsh said. "That's on me."

Josephson led off with a single to left-center field. He stole second and scored on Evan Bradshaw's base hit. After Jack Armstrong walked, Davis Minton rolled a single through the left side of the infield to plate Bradshaw with the game's second run.

The Padres loaded the bases as the rain began falling more steadily. With two outs, Chris Ganim hit a two-hopper to third base that was whiffed, allowing two runs to score and make it 4-0.

"Scoring early was big," said Serra coach Mat Keplinger. "But even with that four spot, we knew it was going be a tight game here."

After a 27-minute delay that featured hail, the Warriors scored a run in the bottom of the first against Davis Minton, who was making his season mound debut and went just an inning.

Serra added a run in the fourth on a Bradshaw RBI single, but a Brock Ketelsen double in the bottom of the fourth cut the lead to 5-2.

The Warriors added two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a bases-loaded single off the left-field fence by Colton Hadfield. But Josephson worked out of a bases-loaded no-out jam with two called third strikes and a soft liner to shortstop.

He worked a scoreless sixth and then turned it over to Nate Hui. Valley loaded the bases with one out, but Hui got a Nathan Choi to pop out and ended the game by striking out Ketelsen for his fourth save.

Three Things We Liked

• The Serra bullpen. Winning pitcher Aiden Waters, Josephson and Hui worked six innings of relief to nail down a much-needed win. Just as important, it allows Keplinger to go into the weekend knowing Riley Lim and Kelley Crawford are fresh to start in the series finale with Valley on Friday and a series opener with St. Ignatius Prep on Saturday.
• The Valley Christian bullpen. Rohan Kasanagottu and Chris Buck combined to throw 6 1/3 innings of five-hit baseball. They allowed just one run and struck out four.
• Quinten Marsh. He struggled on the mound, lasting just two-thirds of an inning, but collected four hits as Valley, which has slumped offensively this season, pounded out 12 hits. "My brothers picked me up today," Marsh said. "We just didn't get the timely hits we needed."

He Said It

"We said it earlier that this is the toughest part of our schedule. We knew that from the start. So, to get this one under our belts is huge." – Ian Josephson, senior shortstop, Serra.

W: Waters. L: Marsh. S: Hui(4). 4 hits- Marsh (VC). 3 hits- Josephson (S), Bradshaw (S). 2 hits- Mull (VC), Hadfield (VC). 2 RBI- Bradshaw (S), Hadfield (VC). 2B- Josephson (S), Harrison (S), Ketelsen (VC), Mull (VC).

St. Ignatius Prep 10, Archbishop Mitty 0

Archer Horn hit his Peninsula-leading fifth home run and the Wildcats won their fifth straight game behind the pitching tandem of Finn Demuth and Tycco Giometti.

Demuth allowed two hits over three innings, while Giometti pitched four no-hit innings of relief. It was the second straight week they combined to pitch St. Ignatius Prep (7-2-2) to a victory.

It was Mitty's second straight loss – both have come on shutouts.

Meanwhile, Horn, the junior shortstop who has already committed to Stanford, pounded out three hits, including a double, and drove in three runs.

The Wildcats scored three runs in the first inning against Mitty's Joseph Engin and broke open the contest in the fifth when they scored five runs. DJ Delaney's grand-slam home run was the big hit in the inning.

The two teams will wrap up their season series on Friday at Mitty.

W: Demuth. L: Engin. 3 hits- Horn. 2 hits- Shaffer (SI), Callen (SI). 4 RBI- Delaaney. 3 RBI- Horn (SI) HR- Delaney (SI), Horn (SI). 2B- Johnson.

Saint Francis 6, Bellarmine 1

Landon Kim upped his record to 4-0 and Saint Francis got back on track by scoring six runs – its biggest scoring output of the season.

Kim allowed two hits and a run over five innings. He struck out four and threw only 73 pitches before giving way to Ian McMahon, who threw the final two innings to pick up the save.

Matteo Pignati had two hits and drove in three runs. His big hits came in the sixth when he broke open a close game.

Bobby Hill led off the inning with a walk. Jack Leeper and Tanner Wall had singles to load the bases and Pignati cleared them with a two-run double.

W: Kim. L: Duarte. S: McMahon. 2 hits- Pignati (SF), Leepeer (SF), Wall (SF). 3 RBI- Pignati (SF). 2B- Pignati (SF).

Capuchino 19, Mission 1

Andres Gomez collected three hits and drove in three and his brother Bobby Gomez tossed a five-inning no-hitter as Capuchino rolled to the victory over its opponent from The City.

The Mustangs (10-4) pounded out 17 hits in the victory, including six doubles. Anakin Manuel had three hits, while Lucas Zayac had two.

W: B.Gomez. L: Sheik. 3 hits- A. Gomez (C). Manuel (C). 2 hits- Zayac (C), Estrella (C). 3 RBI- A.Gomez (C), Manuel (C). 2 RBI- Zayac (C). 2B- A.Gomez (C), Manuel (C), Estrella (C), Ciardella (C), Ceron (C), Ferreira (C).

El Camino 7, South San Francisco 3

Michael McCauley had two hits and sophomore Nicholas Jang pitched the Colts to a victory while adding a double in a semifinal game of the South San Francisco Easter Tournament.

The host Warriors (6-4) committed eight errors in the contest.

W: Jang. L: Osegura. 2 hits- McCauley. 2B- Jang.

Mills 2, Summit Shasta 1

Nate Lafon sent the distance, allowing two hits while striking out 11 for the Vikings, who won their third game of the season.

Matt Juul and Joshua Huei had two hits each, while George Campos added a double.

W: Nate Lafon. L: Jung. 2 hits- Huei (M), Juul (M). 2B- Reyes (M).

Archbishop Riordan 6, Sacred Heart Cathedral 3

Nathan Zuromski homered and drove in two runs as Riordan snapped a seven-game losing streak and won its first WCAL game in nearly two calendar years.

Rohan Kahns had a three-run homer for the Irish (7-6).

W: Cohn L: Middleton. S: Parenti. 2 hits- Dubriwny (R). HR- Kahns (SHC), Zuromski (R). 3 RBI- Kahns (SHC). 2 RBI- Zuromski (R). 2B- Baisman (SHC), Montenegro (R), Dubrinwy (R), Ordonez (R), Dorsch (R).