Big first inning paces Irish

MOUNTAIN VIEW – This one mattered to Sacred Heart Cathedral. Gregg Franceschi made that clear when he brought Jacob Vines in to pitch with two outs and two on base in the sixth. Vines knew it, too. His first pitch – way out of the strike zone – was thrown at 90 mph.

"There was a lot of adrenalin," Vines said, after getting the necessary four out to close out a 9-6 victory over Saint Francis on Tuesday.

The was little drama in his mound stint. Perhaps the bigger question is whether he'll throw Friday or Saturday when the WCAL season heads into its final week with a weekend series with Serra. That'll be followed by a final series against Bellarmine.

They all matter right now to the Irish who are looking for wins they need to secure a spot in the upcoming CCS tournament. The Franceschi of the past would be crunching the numbers. Now he lets the people who get paid to seed the tournament tell him.

"If we go out and take care of business and do what we're supposed to do, where we land is going to be where we land," he said.

Tuesday's victory did wonders for the Irish's CCS dreams and they did it convincingly. They led off the game six straight hits, a fielder's choice grounder and another base hit – all off Landon Kim, who entered the game with the lowest earned-run average on the Peninsula.

"I don't know if I've been a part of a team that strung together that many hits like that," Franceschi said.

And there were no cheapies in the mix. Tedford Lewis led off with a double to left-center field. Santino Baisman singled up the middle to put runners on first and third. A Quinn Middleton base hit plated the game's first run.

That started a string of four straight RBI singles. Rohan Kahns, Chasin Deninger, and Johnny Nepomuceno followed with run-scoring hit to make it 4-0. And after an infield grounder recorded the first out, Evan Liu singled to left to being home the fifth run.

"We kind of just had that mindset, next guy up, keep getting the next guy up," said Kahns, who had three hits. "You never expect to get seven hits in the first inning against a pitcher like (Landon Kim), but it felt great."

A Lewis sacrifice fly closed out the scoring in the first. Saint Francis scored two runs in the bottom of the first and added two more in the second to make it a ballgame.

It seemed like it was a game the Lancers would find a way to pull out in the end, but Sacred Heart came back with three runs in the top of the fifth – again off Kim – to take charge of the game.

"That fifth inning was pretty disappointing," said Saint Francis coach Erik Wagle. "It felt like we were in control the game, and we were doing our thing and then we had just a disaster in that fifth."

Three Things We Liked

• Landon Kim had his worst outing of the season and still has an earned-run average just barely over one run per game. That shows you the type of season the Saint Francis senior is having.
• Jeremy Marquez's alertness to pick a dropped pop up out of the air after first baseman Evan Liu had dropped it. The Sacred Heart second baseman saw it bounce his way, and he plucked it into his glove in the second inning.
• Pitchers taking charge on infield popups. Yes, they are athletes, too. Now, this argument would make a lot more sense had Landon Kim caught the infield popup in question on Tuesday. Him dropping Nepomuceno's popup set the stage for Sacred Heart's three-run uprising in the fifth.

He Said It

"Landon wasn't good today. He knows it. I know it. I'm not afraid to say it. He's not afraid to take it. He's been incredible all year, and I will give him credit as far as coming back after the first inning." – Eric Wagle, Saint Francis coach.

W: Vigo. L: Kim. S: Vines. 3 hits- Kahns (SHC). 2 hits- Lewis (SHC), Wall (SF), Doomer (SF), King (SF). 2 RBI- Lewis (SHC), Doomer (SF). 3B- Wall (SF). 2B- Lewis (SHC), Matthews (SHC), Hurley (SHC).

Terra Nova 3, Aragon 2

The Tigers completed the sweep and remained in hot pursuit of Menlo in the PAL Ocean Division standings, thanks to a two-run first inning and the pitching of sophomore Jesse Martinez.

Martinez went six innings. He walked 5 but allowed just a run and a hit while striking out two in a 98-pitch effort.

The Tigers gave him an early cushion by scoring two runs in the first. Luke Ornelas had a one-out walk and Joey Donati was safe on an error. Shortstop Brody Finale followed with a double that plated Orneles and Terra Nova was gifted the second run of the frame with a balk.

Terra Nova (15-5-1) added another run in the second. Evan Wilson had two hits for the Tigers.

Aragon starter Mason Miller scattered 10 hits over six innings but was hurt by a spotty first two innings.

W: Martinez. L: Miller. S: Santamato. 3 hits- Ornelas (TN). 2 hits- Wilson (TN). 2B- Finale (TN), Wilson (TN), Ornelas (TN).

Woodside 20, El Camino 6

The Wildcats scored five in the first, six in the second and five more in the third to record the lopsided victory.

Trent Amoroso allowed just three hits in picking up the victory, while collecting four hits, including his second home run of the season, and driving in two runs.

Cruz Torres had four hits and four RBI'S, while freshman shortstop Colby Fernandez had three doubles. Anderson Comfort, Jeremiah Arias-Torres and Mateus Mokhterani had two hits each.

W: Amoroso. L: Jang. 4 hits- Amoroso (W), Torres (W). 3 hits- Fernandez (W). 2 hits- Comfort (W), Arias-Torres (W), Mokhaterani (W). 4 RBI- Torres (W). 3 RBI- Arias-Torres (W), Fernandez (W), Perez (W). 2 RBI- Amoroso (W), Alcala (EC), Osorio (EC). HR- Amoroso (W). 2B- Fernandez (W) 3, Torres (W) 2, Comfort (W), Osorio (EC).

Menlo School 1, Half Moon Bay 0

Reid Plamondon outdueled Half Moon Bay's Kai Kung as the Knights remained in first place in the Bay Division with a 1-0 victory.

Plamondon allowed five hits and four walks but managed to keep the Cougars (8-13) off the scoreboard thanks to a solid defense behind him and five strikeouts.

Kung allowed only five hits and struck out six but was tagged with the loss after giving up an unearned run in the fifth inning.

Renner Barnett led off the fifth by being safe on an infield single. He moved to second on a passed ball and got to third on a sacrifice bunt by Matthew Majayla. Barnett scored on Jack Freehill's second base hit of the game.

Chuck Wynn had two hits for the Knights (13-8)

The two teams will wrap up their series in Atherton on Thursday.

W: Plamondon. L: Kung. S: Freehill. 2 hits- Freehill (MS), Wynn (MS). 2B- Couto (HMB).

Mills 6, San Mateo 2

Nate Lafon scattered seven hits and four walks, but just one run in what might be his biggest win of the year.

Lafon struck out four.

Giovanni Angelini had three hits, while Nick Lafon and Aiden Brown had two hits each. Nick Lafon and Brown drove in two runs each.

The Bearcats (10-11) got two hits each from Jesus Olivas and Hudson Brandt.

Christian Louie took the loss and saw his record fall to 7-3.

W: Nate Lafon. L: Louis. 3 hits- Angelini (M). 2 hits- Nick Lafon (M), Brown (M), Olivas (SM), Brandt (SM). 2 RBI- Nick Lafon (M), Brown (M). 2B- Copus (SM), Brandt (SM), Brown (M).

Serra 7, Mitty 4

Perhaps the most incredible statistic of this game is that Aiden Waters needed just 15 pitches to go 2 1/3 innings and pick up the win in relieve on Tuesday.

Waters retired seven hitters with 15 pitches. Read that sentence again. Slowly.

He came on in relief of Davis Minton with the Padres trailing 4-3. The deficit was only temporary. Serra scored two in the bottom of the fourth and added two insurance runs in the sixth.

The two runs in the fourth came courtesy of an Ian Josephson double that plated Pinch Runner Jack Wessell, who had walked, and Nate Hui, who followed with a bunt single.

Hui, who picked up the save with a clean seventh inning, walked in the sixth inning and scored in front of a triple by Aaron Minton. The Padres seventh run would eventually score on an infield grounder by Aaron Meier.

Mitty took a 3-2 lead in the second when Grayson Munoz walked, Ethan Chase singled, and Braxton Garcia beat out a sacrifice bunt. Andre Lopez singled in one run. Another scored on a Cooper Salter sacrifice fly and Brayden Cristobol singled home the third run.

W: Waters. L: Engin. S: Hui. 3 hits- Josephson (S). 2 hits- Lopez (M). 2 RBI- Josephson (S), Meier (S). 3B- A.Minton (S). 2B- Josephson (S) 2, Bradshaw (S).

Valley Christian 11, Riordan 0

Quinten Marsh authored Valley's ninth shutout of the season – this one a no-hitter that he combined to complete with the help of Rohan Kasanagottu and Alex Kim.

Marsh threw five innings and struck out 11.

Offensively, the Warriors (18-4-1) pounded out 11 hits. Brock Ketelsen led off the game with a home run. Marsh had two hits, while Colton Hadfield and Christian Navarez had three hits and drove in a pair.

W: Marsh. L: Zuromski. 3 hits- Navarez (VC). 2 hits- Marsh (VC). 2 RBI- Hadfield (VC), Navarez (VC). HR- Ketelsen (VC). 2B- Choi (VC).

St. Ignatius Prep 3, Bellarmine 2, 8 innings

Ryan Rosenthal homered in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings and the Wildcats didn't waste any time winning it in the eighth.

DJ Delaney led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and stolen base off Bellarmine freshman Emmett Arnott. Delaney scored a couple of pitches later on Beau Schaffer's walkoff single.

Eddie McCartney pitched two innings of relief to pick up the win. Chase Gordon was solid in his start, going six innings and giving up two runs on six hits.

Bellarmine's Apolo Lapiz was equally impressive, going seven innings. He allowed six hits and struck out five.

W: McCartney. L: Arnott. 2 hits- Schaffer (SI), Rosenthal (SI), Callen (SI), Bayah (B), McNamara (B). HR- Rosental (SI). 2B- Tavarez (B), Rosenthal (SI).