D1: Serra, Valley advance to finals

SAN JOSE – Under ordinary circumstances, there's a good chance Davis Minton would have been riding a shutout into the middle innings on Wednesday, but these were not ordinary circumstances.

The stakes were high. CCS semifinals high. And perhaps the Serra Padres felt the magnitude of the moment – there weren't jitters, but they weren't their usual steady selves – by spotting Saint Francis three runs on two plays that were made countless times this spring.

"I think we let the game speed up a little bit at the start," Minton said. "The big thing is today, we showed we could respond."

The Padres didn't just respond. They responded in a big way. A six-run third inning was the story in a 7-4 victory over the Lancers at Excite Park that pushed Serra into Saturday's 7:30 p.m. CCS-Division I championship game against Valley Christian, a 4-2 winner over Los Gatos in the other semifinal game.

"It's really great to come out to the field like this and then handle business when things came to us," said Minton, who remembers watching Serra play at Excite Park when he was a freshman and looked forward to getting to play on that field someday. "We wanted to be here. We talked about that."

And eventually, their Serra Padres brand of baseball – the same stuff that allowed them to win a WCAL regular-season crown and grab the top seed in the CCS-Division I bracket – showed itself on Wednesday.

Most impressive about their big inning was the fact that all the damage was done with two outs. After Jack Wessell led off by being hit by a pitch, Landon Kim got Ian Josephson and Evan Bradshaw out.

Minton got an infield single that plated Serra's first run when the throw to first got away. Jack Armstrong walked, and Tyler Harrison grounded one up the middle that Bobby Hill knocked down, but couldn't keep from rolling into shallow centerfield, allowing Minton to score and make it 3-2.

Aaron Minton walked, and Aaron Maier followed with a two-run single that gave Serra the lead for good, 4-3.

"I just knew that all I had to do is just hit the ball hard and it's going to get through somehow," said Maier, who had two hits and three RBI and now has five hits in six plate appearances in the two CCS wins. "My approach was to stay up the middle, and I executed it."

Aaron Minton and Maier followed by executing a double steal and when Gino Cappellazzo's throw sailed into centerfield, Aaron Minton scored to make it 5-3. A Nate Hui triple to the fence in left-center field made it 6-3 and ended Kim's night.

"We messed up some ground balls that normally we make," said Saint Francis coach Erik Wagle. "I thought Landon made three pitches that should have got us out of the inning. You keep giving a team like Serra opportunities, they're eventually going to get some runs and that's exactly what happened."

Davis Minton allowed four runs over five innings before Nate Hui came in and shut down the Lancers over the final two innings. Minton allowed six hits, struck out four and hit a batter.

Landon King led off the first inning with a bunt single down the third-base line that was misplayed at first base. One batter later, Tanner Wall lined one to the gap in right-centerfield that went for a triple that scored King.

Wall tried to score on the play and was nailed at the plate on a strong relay throw from Bradshaw to Jack Armstrong. It was the second straight game Wall tripled in a run in the bottom of the first inning and was gunned out at the plate trying to extend the play.

In the third inning, Minton retired the first two batters before King was hit by a pitch. Jack Leeper singled and wall cued one up the middle that scooted past Bradshaw, allowing two runs to score and make it 3-0.

"I thought we pitched very well all day, even though they got that run early," said Serra coach Mat Keplinger. "I thought the first batter of the game (King) should have been an out, which led to that first run scoring. And they scored the other runs on a play we could have made."

W: Minton. L: Kim. S: Hui. 2 hits- Leeper (SF), Wall (SF), Hill (SF), Meier (S), Hui (S). 3 RBI- Meier (S), Wall (SF). 3B- Wall (SF), Hui (S). 2B- Hill (SF), Armstrong (S).

Valley Christian 4, Los Gatos 2

Quinten Marsh and Rohan Kasanagottu held Los Gatos to two runs on five hits as Valley Christian advanced to the CCS-Division I championship game against Serra with a 4-2 victory over Los Gatos at Excite Park in San Jose.

It was the 25th time (in 32 games) the Warriors (25-6-1) have held the opposition to two runs or fewer.

Marsh went the first 4 1/3 innings, allowing just two hits and three walks, while walking three. He struck out seven.

Kasanagottu ran into trouble in the sixth inning when the Wildcats (24-5) scored two runs and had the tying run in scoring position. However, the Warriors got out of the inning when Will Temple was called out after trying to steal home.

Clinging to a 1-0 lead, Valley gave itself some breathing room by scoring three runs in the fifth.

Kelan Cunningham walked and, two outs later, Christian Navarez singled. Los Gatos elected to intentionally walk Marsh to load the bases. Jordan Ortiz's grounder to short was thrown away by Beau Musser, allowing two runs to score.

Marsh scored on a passed ball to make it 4-0.

W: Marsh. L: Luddman. S: Kasanagottu. 2 hits- Marsh (VC), Ortiz (VC). 2B- Marsh.