St. Ignatius sets its sights on Serra

SAN JOSE – There's blood in the water and St. Ignatius Prep is circling. After the events of Friday – losses by Saint Francis and Serra – the Wildcats, while they'll never openly admit it, can take charge of the WCAL standings.

"We're looking forward to a big game, just one game at a time, one win at a time, we feel like we're in a good spot," said St. Ignatius coach Brian Pollzzie, whose squad beat depleted Archbishop Mitty on Friday and now has its sights set on something a little bigger. "Now we go to against Serra."

The Wildcats (8-2-2 and 5-0 in WCAL play) can take a commanding lead with a win over the top-ranked Padres on Saturday in San Mateo and again on Tuesday at Fairmont Park in Pacifica.

After Serra's (12-2 and 4-2 in league) 10-1 loss to visiting Valley Christian on Friday, this series will go a long way in determining the final month of the WCAL season. So will the two games between the Wildcats and Saint Francis to close out the season in a month. The Lancers lost a 12-inning 3-1 decision against Bellarmine on Friday.

All league ramifications aside, for Chase Gordon, Saturday will be the chance to pitch against a lot of guys he grew up playing with and against on the Peninsula.

"The message is one game at a time," Gordon said after stringing together three hits on Friday. "We knew we had to come here to care business. It's never easy to get a WCAL win on the road, no matter who you're playing, no matter who your team has lined up. But yeah, we look forward to (Saturday). We know who (Serra) has. We know it's going to be an exciting game."

Friday's win over Mitty had its share of drama. The Monarchs, even without Waylon Walsh and Grayson Munoz in the lineup – both sustained injuries this week at practice and their return date is day to day – put up a fight as you'd expect from a team known for its grit.

"That's gritty Mitty," said Pollzzie, who won for the first time in Monarch Land. "It's never easy here."

The Wildcats scored a run in the first, added two in the second and another in the third to take a 4-0 lead, which was more than enough support for the pitching trio of Spencer Guido, Charlie Stecher and Eddie McCartney, who combined to scatter six hits but always seemed to make the big pitch to escape danger.

"We've got a great bullpen, a great rotation," said McCartney, who picked up the save. "Everyone works off each other. It's a team effort out here."

Three Things We Liked

• Mitty's scrappiness. Senior shortstop Brayden Cristobal stepped in for Walsh and drove in the Monarchs' first run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. He also made a nifty backhand short-hop snag of a DJ Delaney liner to get Mitty out of a jam in the fourth.
• SI catcher AJ Wineinger. On a team filled with as much talent as any team on the Peninsula, the Pacifica native flies below the radar. He threw out two would-be base stealers and scored two runs on a pair of walks and getting hit by a pitch. SI's six-game winning streak probably wouldn't be happening without him behind the plate.
• Pollzzie's ability to field a grounder. From the third-base coaching box, the Wildcats' coach snagged three well-hit one-hoppers with his bare hand. You can't teach that kind of dexterity.

He Said It

"Oh, man, that's a hard one. Pitching at Oracle Park was a dream, but it never feels better to go out there and do well in your hometown. I've grown up with a bunch of these boys since I was like 5 years old, so it's good to go up against friends you've known for a long time." – Chase Gordon, St. Ignatius Prep junior on what is bigger, pitching at Oracle Park two weeks ago or facing Serra.

W: Guido. L: Sunderlin. S: McCartney. 3 hits- Gordon (SI). 2 hits- Johnson (SI), Shaffer (SI), Manago (M), Chase (M). 2B- Shaffer (SI), Chase (SI).

Valley Christian 10, Serra 4

The Valley Christian bats finally came to life on Friday in a big way. A grand-slam home run from Brock Ketelsen, a three-run homer by Quinten Marsh and a solo shot by Jordan Ortiz spurred a 10-4 victory over Serra.

Ketelsen and Marsh each finished with four RBI.

Ketelsen made his first start of the year after coming out of the bullpen all season. He made the most of his five innings by allowing just 2 hits and striking out eight. He was touched for a run – his first of the season.

Tyler Harrison hit his first home run of the season for Serra, a two-run shot in the seventh when the Padres attempted to rally from a 10-1 deficit.

W: Ketelsen. L: Crawford. 2 hits- Marsh. 4 RBI- Marsh (VC), Ketelsen (VC). 2 RBI- Harrison (S). HR- Ketelsen (VC), Ortiz (VC), Marsh (VC), Harrison (S).

Bellarmine 3, Saint Francis 1, 12 innings

The Bells won their first WCAL game after a few close calls. It took them 12 innings and the pitching of Apolo Lapiz and freshman Emmett Arnott to nail down the victory.

The duo combined for 12 innings, seven hits and nine strikeouts. Arnott went the final four innings to nail down the decision.

The Bells scored two runs in the top of the 12th when DJ Dunne reached first on a dropped third strike. He advanced all the way to third on an infield error and scored on a Luke McNeil single.

After a Drew McClelland single, Bellarmine scored its third run on a bunt by Evan Tavarez.

The 12th-inning rally thwarted another strong pitching effort by senior Nick Chow, who allowed five hits and a run over seven innings. He struck out seven, but didn't factor in the decision.

W: Arnott. L: McMahon. 3 hits- McNamara (B), McNeil (B). 2 hits- Chu (B), Doomer (SF). 3B- McNeil (B) 2B- Tavarez (B), McNamara (B).

Menlo-Atherton 2, Carlmont 1

Perhaps the most impressive part of flamethrower Wes Peterson's complete-game victory on Friday wasn't his velocity or the face that he allowed just a run and three hits.

He did it all in 62 pitches.

The Bears (11-4) stayed perfect in the PAL Bay Division with the win – their sixth straight.

Menlo-Atherton scored the only runs Peterson would need early when Merrick Lee singled. Ryder Kelly's fielder's choice grounder retired Lee, but a Jimmy Zaharias double moved runners to second and third with one out.

Bother runners scored on David Lopez infield grounder that was booted.

Henry Massey had a triple for the Scots (5-8), while Aidan O'Driscoll had a double.

W: Peterson. L: Fong. 3B- Massey (C). 2B- Zaharias (MA), O'Driskoll (C).

Sacred Heart Cathedral 4, Riordan 0

Jacob Vines had a career day. He tossed a no-hitter and struck out 16 as the Irish avenged an early-week loss to the Crusaders.

Vines was dominant – as the numbers show and he was aided by offensive support from his teammates.

Up 1-0, Sacred Heart broke open the contest when Rohan Kahns was safe on an error. He moved to second on an infield grounder, stole third and scored on Santino Baisman's single.

Tedford Lewis had three hits and scored a run for the Irish.

W: Vines. L: Williams. 3 hits- Lewis (SHC). 2B- Nepomuceno (SHP).

College Park 5, Burlingame 0

James Voorhies tossed a no-hitter as the Pleasant Hill school blanked the Panthers, 5-0.

Voorhies faced just two batters over the minimum in firing the no-hitter. The 6-foot-4 senior struck out 14.

W: Voorhies. L: Vorrises.

South San Francisco 11, Capuchino 4

The Warriors dealt Capuchino an unexpected and inexplicable loss by pounding out 13 hits.

Emelio Oseguera had five hits, including two doubles and drove in three runs. Giovanni Bernal had three hits, while Vince Bernal and Gabriel Martin had two hits each.

Lucas Zayac and Bryce Brooks had two hits each for the Mustangs (10-5).

W: Martin. L: Fanora. 5 hits- Oseguera. 3 hits- G. Bernal. 2 hits- Martin, V. Bernal, Zayac, Brooks. 3 RBI- Oseguera, Martin, G. Bernel. 2B- Oseguera 2.