St. Ignatius goes on HR binge

PACIFICA – Daylight saving time is here. Darkness is no longer a saving grace for opponents of St. Ignatius Prep. And those fluke inside-the-park grand slams – like the one that doomed the Wildcats last week – simply don't happen every day.

All of that bodes well for the Wildcats, based on everything that's happened in the first two weeks of the season.

On Tuesday, St. Ignatius made short work of visiting Palo Alto by scoring two runs in the first on an Emmet Johnson home run and adding eight more in the second on three more homers.

The 11-0 victory over the Vikings snapped a three-game winless string sent a signal to the rest of the West Catholic Athletic League that these Cats, who are playing the toughest schedule on the Peninsula, are ready for a league season that will soon test them.

"The past three games, we haven't been starting off well," Johnson said. "We've been down early in the first so for us getting off quickly in the first inning, I feel like that's really, really what we needed today."

If Johnson's blast was a starter, the eight-run second was an exclamation point. Most impressive about the uprising was it all took place with two outs. Home runs by DJ Delaney – a three-run shot – AJ Wineinger and Beau Shaffer were the big hits in the innings, but the Wildcats strung together seven consecutive base hits in the second.

Three Things We Liked

• Two-out rallies. Seven straight hits are something to behold. It all started with a walk and a ground-rule double by Atticus Gibson. Archer Horn then delivered a two-run single. Johnson singled and Delaney then delivered his three-run homer. Wineinger followed with his first homer of the year – "that felt amazing," said Wineinger, a Pacifica native. And after a Chase Gordon line-drive single, Shaffer put one over the fence in left field. "Hits come in bunches," Shaffer said. "When one person does it, it gets contagious, and whole team starts to do it."
• Wildcat pitching. Lost in the home run barrage was the fact that Spencer Guido, Charlie Stetcher and Eddie McCartney combined to throw a no-hitter. Guido went the first three to pick up the win.
• Fairmont Park. On those rare days when the sun is shining – as it was Tuesday – the park located on the northern edge of Pacifica, on a hill with ocean views in the distance, is a gem.

He Said It

"I'm not getting caught up in records. Playing in the WCAL, it's not always going to be pretty. The rankings and everything don't mean anything until the end of the season." – Brian Pollzzie, St. Ignatius coach.

W: Guido. L: Walker. 2 hits- Johnson (SI), Gibson (SI). 3 RBI- Delaney (SI). 2 RBI- Horn (SI), Johnson (SI), Shaffer (SI). HR- Johnson (SI), Delaney (SI), Wineinger (SI), Shaffer (SI). 2B- Gibson (SI).

Sacred Heart Cathedral 4, Burlingame 2

The Irish were teetering on the brink in the second inning, nursing a 1-0 lead. Burlingame had the bases loaded with none out with Ea Leialoha at the plate. He lined one up the middle that shortstop Santino Baisman dived for and snagged.

Baisman got to his feet, tagged second and threw to first to complete a triple play that proved to be the big play in the Irish's fifth victory.

Burlingame tied the game an inning later, but Sacred Heart Cathedral scored three times in the fifth to take charge of the game. Rohan Kahns had a two-run double.

Quinn Middleton went the first four innings, but didn't figure in the decision. PJ Vigo pitched the final three to pick up the win.

Slade Flores and Kai Watanabe had two hits each for the Panthers (4-1), while Liam Philibosian had a double.

W: Vigo. L: Traugwein. 2 hits- Flores (B), Watanabe (B). 2 RBI- Kahns (SHC). 2B- Kahns (SHC), Philipbosian (B).

Half Moon Bay 5, Carlmont 2

Kai Kung went the distance in his second straight outing and got what he calls the biggest win of his high school career.

kung, who struck out 14 batters last week in a victory over Cupertino, allowed only six hits, a walk and two runs to a hard-hitting Carlmont squad. He struck out four.

"This was a little better team," he said. "I tried to keep the ball down and let my defense play and it worked. ... to go seven innings two games in a row and beat Carlmont, this was my biggest win."

He was aided by two big defensive plays from shortstop Riley Jackson to escape a fourth-inning jam. Jackson, who hit two home runs on Saturday, walked four times against Carlmont and scored three runs.

Ian Lemon and Conner Heath had three hits each for the Cougars.

Tyler Webster and Levi Wellman had two hits each for Carlmont (3-3).

W: Kung. L: Giacomini. 3 hits- Lemon (HMB), Heath (HMB). 2 hits- Webster (C), Wellman (C). 2B- Couto (HMB), Wellman (C).

Menlo-Atherton 3, Homestead 0

Max Brubacher allowed one hit over five innings, while Tyler Rosenthal pitched the final two innings of one-hit ball to pick up the save in the Bears' shutout victory.

Senior shortstop Will Roberts and MJ Ellazar each had a run-scoring hit for Menlo-Atherton, while senior second baseman Ryder Kelly had a triple.

W: Brubacher. L: Duong. S: Rosenthal. 3B- Kelly (MA).

Santa Teresa 5, Sequoia 3

Drew Ostrander hit his first home run of the season for the Ravens, but it wasn't enough for them to win at Santa Teresa.

Ostrander had two hits, while Morgan Winfield added two hits and a pair of RBI for Sequoia.

W: Delap, L: Hymer. S: Mendenhall. 2 hits- Ostrander (S), Winfield (S), Medina (ST). 2 RBI- Winfield (S), Ostrander (S). HR- Ostrander (S). 2B- Winfield (S).

The King’s Academy 4, Menlo School 1

Toby Trotter had three hits and drove in a pair for The King's Academy, which improved to 4-2.

Jackson Flanagan had three hits and drove in two runs for Menlo, while Matthew Majalya added two hits.

Thomas Castro worked four scoreless innings for the Knights, but didn't factor in the decision.

W: Peters. L: Flanagan. 3 hits- Flanagan (MS), Trotter (TKA). 2 hits- Majalya (MS). 2 RBI- Flanigan (MS). 2B- Kinoshita (TKA).

Mills 8, South San Francisco 5

Giovanni Angellini and Kendrick Choi had three hits each and combined for seven RBI – four by Angellini – as Mills won for the first time this year, beating South San Francisco, the defending PAL Lake Division champion,

Jayden Chan and Nate Lafon had two hits each for the Vikings, who pounded out a season-high 13 hits.

Angellini had a double and a triple in the contest.

Nate Lafon, who pitched six innings Friday in a loss to Hillsdale, came out of the bullpen to toss four no-hit innings to pick up the save.

W: Juul. L: G.Bernel. S- Nate Lafon. 3 hits- Choi (M), Angellini (M), 2 hits- Chan (M). Nate Lafon (M). 4 RBI- Angellini (M). 3 RBI- Choi (M). 3B- Angellini (M), Campos (M). 2B- Angellini (M). Choi (M), Nick Lafon (M), Jenke (M).

Valley Christian 2, Wilcox 0

Ho Hum. Another Valley Christian shutout. Quinten Marsh and Rohan Kasanagottu combined the blank the Chargers on five hits in improving to 6-0.

The Warriors have allowed just one earned run in 38 innings this season.

Marsh scattered five hits over 4 2/3 innings and struck out nine. Kasanagottu got the final seven outs, three on strikeouts.

Caleb Najar had a run-scoring double, while Marsh drove in the other run. Sophomore second baseman Colton Hadfield continued his hot streak by collecting a double, the fourth straight game he has had an extra-base hit.

W: Marsh. L: Laureles. S: Kasanagottu. 2B- Hadfield (VC), Najar (VC)

Mitty 6, Santa Cruz 1

The Monarchs bounced back from Saturday's loss to Valley Christian with the 6-1 victory.

Joseph Engin picked up the victory. Offensively, Andre Lopez-Monsivais had two hits, while Derek Allen drove in two. Waylon Walsh had a double.

W: Engin. L: Rogers. 2 hits- Lopez-Monsivais (M). 2 RBI- Allen (M). 2B- Walsh (M).

Bellarmine 8, San Lorenzo Valley 4

Evan Tavarez, Ollie McNamara and Dash Knight had two hits each, while DJ Dunn drove in three runs for the Bells, who won their second straight game to improve to 4-2.

Ryder Suba picked up the victory for Bellarmine.

Tavarez hot streak should be noticed he's hitting .533 with a 1.682 OPS to open the season.

W: Suba. L: Aguilar. 2 hits- Tavarez (B), McNamara (B), Knight (B). 3 RBI- Dunne (B). 2B- McNanmara (B).

Serra 6, San Ramon Valley 3

Evan Bradshaw hit his first home run of the season, while the Padres bullpen picked up ace Kelley Crawford in a big way on Tuesday.

Crawford ran into trouble in the third inning and needed Richie Calderon to put out the fire in a bases-loaded situation. Aiden Waters and Nate Hui also pitched through big innings for the Padres, who improved to 7-0.

Bradshaw also had a single and drove in two runs. Ian Josephson had two more hits, while Davis Minton also had a two-hit game.

W: Crawford. L: Gehrke. S: Hui. 2 hits- Josephson (S), Bradshaw (S), D.Minton (S). HR- Bradshaw (S). 2 RBI- Bradshaw (S).