Ketelsen catch closes out Cats

SAN JOSE – Brock Ketelsen went into Wednesday's WCAL semifinal with a different idea of closing out Valley Christian's 3-1 victory over St. Ignatius Prep.

John Diatte took the shackles off his senior southpaw, and he went into the game with unlimited pitches – or well over 100, which is way more than he has thrown in any game this season.

But that only got him to 5 2/3 innings. When Chris Buck entered the contest, Ketelsen, the Stanford signee, returned to centerfielder. And when Archer Horn stepped to the plate representing the tying run with two out in the seventh, Ketelsen told right fielder Quinten Marsh that he was going to rob Horn of a home run to end the game.

It's hard to say if Horn's blast would have gone over the fence in left-center field, but Ketelsen closed hard on the fly ball, leaped and caught the ball high above his head to end the game and put the Warriors (23-5-1) in Thursday's WCAL title game against visiting Bellarmine.

"I jumped into the fence," he said. "It might have gone out. It might not have gone out. It was probably a wall scraper. It probably would have hit the top of the wall."

It was that kind of day for Horn – and the Wildcats (17-9-1). Horn hit two balls that were caught at the fence, while St. Ignatius had several chances to come back from the two-run deficit it dug for itself in the first inning.

"We had at ton of opportunities," said St. Ignatius Prep coach Brian Pollzzie. "We just didn't take advantage."

The Wildcats scored their only run in the fourth when DJ Delaney singled, stole second and – after two strikeouts – scored on Chase Gordon's double to the gap in left-centerfield. But Gordon got picked off second two pitches later to end the threat of further damage.

Horn ended the fifth with a long drive to right-centerfield that died at the wall. And in the sixth, Emmett Johnson walked and stole second and third. Beau Schaffer walked, putting runners on first and third. The Wildcats tried twice to safety squeeze the tying run home with AJ Wineinger, but he fouled off both attempts. He struck out swinging for the second out.

Buck replaced Ketelsen and got Gordon to ground out to third base to end the inning.

Three Things We Like (and One We Hate)

• Jordan Ortiz. The senior catcher won Tuesday's quarterfinal game with a sixth-inning home run. On Wednesday he didn't waste any time getting a big hit. His long double off the wall in left field scored Christian Navarez. Ortiz would score the second run on a Logan Mull double – one of three hits from Mull. Ortiz is hot offensively, but he might also be the Peninsula's best pitch framer.
• Jack Callen's bunting abilities. There are just a few great high school bunters on the Peninsula. Capuchino's Andres Torres comes to mind and so does Callen, the St. Ignatius Prep second baseman. In the third inning, Ryan Rosenthal led off with a single. Callen then got an inside pitch from Ketelsen and placed his bunt perfectly up the first-base line to move pinch-runner Charlie Stecher into scoring position.
• The many ways Ketelsen can beat you. His pitching (three hits allowed and 10 strikeouts) and defense quickly come to mind on Wednesday, but his bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth, which brought home Mull with a valuable insurance run can't be undersold. He and Horn battled for eight pitches before Horn missed inside. As he started toward first base, he turned to his team in the third-base dugout and let out some emotion a little fist pump. "That was just a big moment," Ketelsen said. "Archer Horn is a great pitcher out there. I worked a walk. I worked a good at bat and just helped my team. So that was big, and I just let a little emotion out right there."
• The Warriors lost senior right fielder Hunter Fujimoto to a separated shoulder in Tuesday's win over Sacred Heart Cathedral. His jersey hung in the Valley Christian dugout on Wednesday. Marsh moved to right field, but losing one of their offensive sparkplugs is tough for Valley.

He Said It

"The kids just want to win. I think every game that you play in the WCAL is a big game. Emotions run high, and sometimes, they get the best of you. It's a high-emotion game every time you're playing a WCAL game." – John Diatti, Valley Christian coach.

W: Ketelsen. L: Guido. S: Buck. 3 hits- Mull (VC). 2 hits- Rosenthal (SI). 2B- Mull (VC), Ortiz (VC), Gordon (SI).

Bellarmine 1, Serra 0

The Bells pulled off their second straight tournament upset to advance to Thursday's WCAL tourney championship game at Valley Christian.

Sophomore Preston Pera went 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and walking four while striking out four.

"He attacked a very good hitting team in Serra," said Bellarmine coach Nate Sutton. "He did a great job of staying under control in a high-pressure playoff scenario. Very few sophomores could handle that type of situation.

And if Pera's exploits were impressive, given his age, Emmett Arnott – just a freshman – getting the last four outs was equally jaw-dropping, Sutton said.

The Bells have had their share of tough losses this year, including a WCAL-opening 2-1 loss at Serra in late March that went nine innings.

"All of our close losses have brought us together," Sutton said. "The kids are really playing well and have steadily improved throughout the season."

The Padres started Davis Minton, who was coming off a no-hitter with 11 strikeouts. Minton allowed just four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He scattered four hits and struck out two while not walking a batter.

He was dented for the game's only run in sixth when Nate Bateman single and was bunted to second by DJ Dunne. He scored on Nathan Chew's double.

Christian Duarte, a Santa Clara commit, will make the championship game start for the Bells.

W: Pera. L: D.Minton. S: Arnott. 2B- Chew.

Capuchino 3, Burlingame 0

Declan Mendel threw six shutout innings, and Anakin Manuel drove in all three runs for the Mustangs, who closed out the regular season with a second-place finish in the PAL Bay Division.

Manuel provided the only runs Mendel would need with a two-run homer in the first inning. After Andres Gomez led off the inning with a single, Manuel launched his one-out homer over the fence in left field.

Mendel struck out nine and didn't walk a batter. He scattered five hits.

Burlingame's Roberto Beltranena had three hits for the Panthers (10-15)

W: Mendel. L: Trautwein. S: Ferreria. 3 hits- Roberto Beltranena (B). 2 hits- Manuel (C). 3 RBI- Manuel (C). HR- Manuel (C).

Carlmont 6, Sequoia 5

Luke Tofigh singled off the fence in left field to score brother Jason Tofigh and break a 5-5 tie as the Scots kept their CCS hopes very much alive with the walk-off victory.

Jason Tofigh led off the bottom of the seventh with a single and was bunted to second by Grant Goetz. The Ravens elected to intentionally walk Henry Massey to set up a double play situation by Luke Tofigh launched a Dylan Karmin pitch off the fence.

Carlmont (13-13) improved its CCS tourney resume with the win, while conventional wisdom indicates that the Raves (14-12) have already done enough to qualify for next weekend's tournament. The same two teams will meet on Friday in Redwood City.

Sequoia pounded out 10 hits, including three from Drew Ostrander and two each from Vince Olinger-Giani and Nolan Fausto (2-2b's). Carlmont got two-hit performances from both Tofigh brothers, Goetz, Massey and sophomore Nate Werbinski.

Jayson Tofigh was also credited with the win pitching the top of the 7th.

W: J.Tofigh. L: Karmin. 3 hits- D.Ostrander (S). 2 hits- Oliger-Giani (S), Fausto (S), J.Tofigh (C), L.Tofigh (C), Goetz (C), Massey (C), Werbinski (C). 2 RBI- Massey (C), L.Tofigh (C), Fausto (S). 2B- Fausto (S) 2.

The King’s Academy 7, Sacred Heart Prep 2

Dominic Myung homered for the third straight game and Toby Trotter had another solid outing for the Knights, who got back over the .500 mark with the victory.

Myung, who homered on Friday at Hillsdale and Saturday against Bellarmine, led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run over the fence in right field for The King's Academy (12-11).

That was nearly enough offense for Toby Trotter, who had his third straight stellar Wednesday start. The lefty allowed just three hits and a walk in six innings of work while striking out 10. He threw 98 pitches.

The Knights broke open the contest with six runs in the third inning.

Myung and Nate Plata walked before Ethan Johnson singled in a run. Plata went all the way to third on the hit and scored on a double steal to make it 3-0.

Trotter, who also had two hits, singled in a run. After a base hit by Cyrus Sid, AJ Kong plated another run with an infield ground. Caleb Kong also had a run-scoring single in the inning.

W: Trotter. L: Sweeney. 2 hits- Trotter (TKA). HR- Myung (TKA). 3B- Fischbein (SHP). 2B- Selcher (SHP).

Menlo-Atherton 4, Hillsdale 1

Wes Peterson allowed one hit and a walk over five innings of work for the Bears, who clinched sole possession of the PAL Bay Division with the win and dealt the Knights a tough blow to their CCS chances.

The two teams meet again on Friday in Atherton.

Peterson, who didn't pitch last week, struck out five in his mound return. He outdueled Jake Belloni, who allowed three, runs four hits and four walks in five innings of work. He struck out five.

Belloni provided Hillsdale's only run with a solo home run, his fourth of the year.

The Bears (19-7) scored two runs in the first inning. Ryder Kelly delivered a one out single and moved to second on a Jimmy Zaharias walk. Senior shortstop Will Roberts then bunted up the first base line for a single and Kelly scored on a Belloni throwing error.

A Jack Molise infield grounder plated the second run of the inning.

W: Peterson. L: Belloni. S: Zaharias. 2 hits- Roberts (MA). HR- Belloni. 2B- Menahan (H).