Lancers' Larocque remains unscathed

MOUNTAIN VIEW – Brody Larocque's first varsity starting assignment wasn't much different than his previous pitching assignments at Saint Francis.

He filled the strike zone, pitched to contact and left the contest unscathed. Last year, Larocque didn't allow an earned run and he kept his scoreless string going by allowing just one hit over five innings in the Lancers' 1-0 season-opening victory over visiting Leigh.

"It was a good starting point," he said. "I'm going to learn from it and keep moving forward."

He walked four batters, but was at his best when he relied on his defense to make plays behind hm.

"I think I did well in trusting my guys and in trusting myself," he said. "I've never been a strikeout guy. I'm not going to try and blow past guys. Instead, I'm going to let what's probably the best defense in the WCAL go to work."

The Lancers played errorless ball and scored the game's only run when Gino Cappellazzo walked with one out in the fourth inning. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Henry Dommer's groundball single up the middle.

Tony Madrigal pitched two perfect innings, striking out the final two batters, to earn the save.

Key Play: After walking consecutive batters with one out in the fifth, John Arevalo bunted to the left side. Laroucque fielded the bunt cleanly and fired a strike to third baseman Sione Tulua for the force out. He got the third out on an infield grounder.

Three Things We Liked

• They beat the rain. On a day when the threat of rain lingered throughout, the played the game in under two hours – long before a drop of rain had fallen from the sky.
• When the wind shifted, Saint Francis adjusted and played its outfield shallow to cut off anything in front of them. The trio of Dommer, Jack Leeper and Tanner Wall fielded everything hit their way.
• Sophomore Landon King's swing. He led off the bottom of the first with a line drive into the gap in right-center field. On another day, the ball might have left the yard. This time, it hung just a bit and was nothing more than a long out.

W: Larocque | L: Beaudoin | S: Madrigal. 2B- Hernandez (L)

Mitty 16, Leland 0

The Monarchs opened the new season in a big way by pounding out 11 hits in a five-inning victory over Leland in the Milpitas tourney.

Andre Lopes-Monsivais did his share of the damage. He collected three hits and scored three runs for Mitty. Austin Mak added two hits, while Ethan Chase and Derek Allen combined to drive in five runs.

That was more than enough offensive support for Jay Kim, who allowed two hits over four innings to pick up the victory. Gabe Lopez pitched a scoreless fifth inning to close it out.

W: Kim | L: Chang | 3 hits- Lopez (M). 2 hits- Mak (M). 3 RBI- Chase. 2 RBI- Allen (M).

Riordan 7, Santa Teresa 4

The Crusaders jumped to a 7-0 lead and then hung on for the victory that pushed them into the winner's bracket of the Tamone tournament, where they will face Wilcox on Thursday.

Santino Williams picked up the pitching victory and added two hits, including a home run. Keoni Ordonez added two hits, while Logan Tuman drove in a pair.

W: Williams | L: Hawk | 3 hits- Hall (ST). 2 hits- Williams (R), Ordonez (R), Hernandez (R). 2 RBI- Tuman (R). HR- Williams (R). 2B- Hernandez (R), Tuman (R), Ordonez (R), Hall (ST), Cedillo (ST), Rivera (ST).

Wilcox 19, MacDonald 1

The Chargers scored 10 runs in the first innings, dodged a few raindrops and then added a bushel more runs to win the four-inning game and advance in the winner's bracket of the Tamone tourney, where Riordan awaits them on Thursday.

Isaiah Mata had three hits, including a double and homer, scored three runs and drove in seven for Wilcox. Most notably about his night is he accomplished it in three innings.

The Chargers pounded out 11 hits and collected 10 walks in the contest.

W: Laureles | L: Roberts | S: Saving Pitcher. 3 hits- Mata (W). 7 RBI- Mata (W). HR- Mata (W). 2B- Mata (W).

Sacred Heart Cathedral 7, Palo Alto 5

Concerns that the Irish might have trouble generating runs were quickly put to rest with a 10-hit debut. Teddy Lewis, Johnny Nepomuceno, Max Nylander and Lucas Fung had two hits each.

Max Matthews homered for Sacred Heart Cathedral, which got three strong innings of relief from Cooper Rogers Lewis to pick up the win.

Dylan Robinson and Jackson Sims had two hits each for the Vikings.

W: Rogers Lewis | L: Tioupine. 2 hits- Lewis (SHC), Fung (SHC), Nepomuceno (SHC), Nylander (SHC), Sims (PA), Robinson (PA). 2 RBI- Nylander (PA), Robinson (PA). HR- Matthews (SHC). 2B- Lewis (SHC), Nepomuceno (SHC), Nylander (SHC).

Capuchino 6, El Camino 0

The Mustangs got two hits from sophomore Logan Arceo who made his varsity debut memorable by also driving in two runs and legging out a triple.

Senior Dominic Fanara, one of the few holdovers from last year's squad, had two hits, including a double.

Junior Nathan Meyer, making his varsity debut, came out of the bullpen to pitch the final four innings in relief of Aaron Rodriguez.

Carlos Alcala had three hits for the Colts.

W: Meyer | L: Bromaghim | 3 hits- Alcala (EC). 2 hits- Arceo (C), Fanara (C). 2 RBI- Arceo (C). 3B- Arceo (C). 2B- Fanara (C).

Burlingame 11, Design Tech 0

Aaron Lau had two hits, and Grayson Howard scored three runs and stole two bases for the Panthers, who opened the season with the victory.

Pitcher Daniel MacMillan, making his varsity debut, struck out eight in four innings of work.

Michael Intrieri drove in two runs for Burlingame, while Aiden Tom had two hits for the Dragons.

W: MacMillan | L: Tom | 2 hits- Lau (B), Tom (DT). 2 RBI- Intrieri (B).