DI: Lancers eliminate Padres

MOUNTAIN VIEW – With the game scoreless in the top of the third, Serra had runners on first and second with none out when Saint Francis pitcher Kyle McMillan made the play of the game.

Aaron Minton's bunt to the third-base side of the mound was fielder on the run by McMillan, who flipped it to third baseman Sione Tulua for the force out. That's the benefit of having a pitcher who also plays shortstop.

McMillan then took matters into his own hand – or right arm, as it were – by striking out Michael Ohman and William Wahlbridge to escape the jam unscathed.

"That was huge for us," said Saint Francis second baseman Landon King, who came up in the same situation in the bottom of the inning and launched a two-run double that broke the scoreless tie.

Two batters later, Tanner Wall launched a two-run home that proved to be the difference in Saint Francis' 4-1 victory over the Padres that hoisted the Lancers into Wednesday's semifinal round against Soquel at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.

Wall's home run was a moment of pure joy. From the time the ball left his bat – a no-doubter to deep right field – Wall displayed pure elation. He whooped it up as he ran to first. celebrated between first and second and again at third. When he rounded third, he looked into the home dugout and raised his arms again.

"When you hit the ball, you basically know immediately it's a home run," Wall said. Experiencing that joy at CCS, in the playoffs when if you lose, you're out, is amazing. It was a tight game. And I think it's really important to have that one swing, and I got it. That felt amazing."

Serra had chances to creep back into the game. It scored a run in the sixth on a Minton double, a fly ball and an infield grounder and then loaded the bases on three straight walks.

But Jack Wessell's fly ball to deep center field landed in Jack Leeper's glove for the third out.

Serra put two more runners on base in the seventh, but Ian McMahon got a strikeout and an infield grounder to end the game.

W: McMillan | L: Ohman | S: McMahon | 2 hits- Minton (S). 2 RBI- Wall (SF). HR- Wall (SF). 2B- Minton (S), Crudeli (S), King (SF).

Valley Christian 3, Willow Glen 2

Valley scored three runs in the first inning and then withstood a Willow Glen rally in the seventh inning to advance to Wednesday's semifinal round against Los Gatos at Excite Ballpark.

Gabe Felix allowed two runs over 4 1/3 innings to pick up the win, while Alex Kim secured the final eight outs to pick up the save.

Colton Hadfield had two hits for the Warriors, while Logan Mull and Zack Koontz had doubles.

W: Felix | L: Dionne | S: Kim | 3 hits- Austin (WG). 2 hits- Miranda (WG), Hadfield (VC). 2 RBI- Kaminski (WG). 2B- Mull (VC), Kaminski (WG), Koontz (VC).

Los Gatos 10, Bellarmine 9, 8 innings

Chase Frolich hit a grand-slam home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings and then, after allowing two Bellarmine runs in the top of the eighth, Brady Simon's three-run homer provided a walk-off win for the Wildcats.

The victory puts Los Gatos in Wednesday's semifinal round against Valley Christian, the same team that eliminated them a year ago.

Frolich, who leads the Peninsula in RBI, now has driven in 48 runs – a single-season record at Los Gatos.

In the eighth, Sam Petke had a pinch-hit double. He moved to third on Max Thomas' third hit of the game. Both runners scored on Simon's sixth home run of the season.

Beau Musser added a home run, while Ollie McNamara homered for the Bells and drove in three runs.

Nathan Chew had three hits for Bellarmine, which collected 11 hits off Ethan Williams. Of the seven runs scored off Williams, only three were earned.

Isaiah Beyah, Drew McClelland and McNamara had two hits each for Bellarmine.

W: Oberthier | L: Suba | 3 hits- Chew (B), Thomas (LG). 2 hits- Beyah (B), McClelland (B), McNamara (B). 4 RBI- Frolich (LG). 3 RBI- McNamara (B). HR- McNamara (B), Musser (LG), Simon (LG), Frolich. 3B- Beyah (B). 2B- Chew (B) 2, McClelland (B), Arnott (B), Salberg (LG), Thomas (LG), Fitzpatrick (LG), Petke (LG).

Soquel 6, St. Ignatius Prep 0

Jake Escalante, a Cal-State Fullerton signee, allowed two hits in a shutout of St. Ignatius Prep.

The win ended the Wildcats' season – and the high school career of four-year starter Archer Horn, who will likely be playing at Stanford in the fall – and pushed Soquel into Wednesday's semifinals against top-seeded Saint Francis.

Escalante, who struck out five in going the distance on 102 pitches, was in the midst of a pitcher's duel with St. Ignatius Prep's Leo Rhein before the Wildcats showed an inability to make plays on bunts.

The Knights scored a run in the fourth on an infield error and a bunt single by Sam Whelen that was thrown down the right-field line by Rhein.

Rhein made another throwing error in the fifth on a bunt play that led to two more runs and gave Soquel a 3-0 lead.

That was more than enough offense for Escalante, who surrendered just a pair of singles to Pacifica native AJ Wineinger.

W: Escalante | L: Rhein | 2 hits- Wineinger (SI), Whelan (S).