SERRA-DIPITY

SAN JOSE – When the game was on the line - when each team really needed a defensive play, it was Serra High that came up with one. And Valley Christian that didn't.

Those two plays weighed heavily in the Padres' 3-2 victory at Excite Park, which clinched for them their first CCS-Division I crown in the Mat Keplinger era.

With one out in the seventh inning, pitcher Nate Hui fielded a Christian Navarez bunt to his left in front of the mound and backhand-flipped it to catcher Jack Armstrong, who applied the tag on a headfirst-sliding Ethan Flynn at the plate to preserve Serra's lead and record the second out of the inning.

"He is an athletic and instinctual player, and that's what it's all about," Keplinger said. "You've got to make winning plays. And that was a winning play."

But Hui and the Padres weren't out of the woods yet. After balking two runners into scoring position, he caught Quinten Marsh – the WCAL player of the year and batting champion – looking at a full-count curveball to end the game as the Padres stormed onto the field and did an epic dogpile near the pitcher's mound.

Hui's backhanded flip came after the Padres had spent the entire week preparing for Valley's vaunted bunt game by spending about 30 minutes a day working on bunt coverage and – yes – backhand flips.

Keplinger "said it was going to come down to something like this," said Hui, who saved his second game in three nights. "That's crazy. ... I saw (Flynn) in the corner of my eye, and it's do-or-die, the season was on the line. I've worked on that play, so it was just second nature for me at that point. Coach prepared us well, and I trusted Jack to catch the ball and get the tag down."

The Padres turned no fewer than four big defensive plays on the night. Ian Josephson a Brock Ketelsen high hopper in the third and got the speedy lefty by a half-step in the third inning. Second baseman Evan Bradshaw dived to his right to snag a Kelan Cunningham soft liner in the fifth. And left fielder Aaron Maier lunged for a diving catch in the sixth inning with a runner on.

Meanwhile, the Warriors (25-7-1) played good for most of the night and seemed in control with a 2-0 lead and Ketelsen on the mound. He didn't give up a hit through the first three innings, but Armstrong led off the bottom of the fourth with an infield single up the middle.

Tyler Harrison walked, putting runners on first and second. Valley, expecting a bunt, put in motion a backdoor pickoff play at first base, but catcher Jordan Ortiz's throw was off the mark and seemed to glance off Harrison's helmet at first base.

The ball caromed to the left of the first-base dugout, allowing both runners to move into scoring position. Keplinger unsuccessfully argued that the ball went out of play and PJ Bordin, pinch-running for Armstrong, should have been allowed to score, while Harrison advanced to third.

Either way, the miscue changed the momentum. The crowd of more than 2,000 could feel the shift. And sophomore Aaron Minton, took advantage by doubling down the left-field line to chase home both runs and tied the game, 2-2.

"It was crazy," said Aaron Minton, who flied out to deep left field in his first at-bat. "Off the bat, I couldn't believe what happened. I was just running around the bases and I was just so thankful to be in that position, under the lights, and everyone there. It was a really cool thing."

Minton's season has been a lesson is perseverance. He got off to a rough start to the season by slumping out of the gate. He lost his starting job but regained it late in the season and catching fire offensively over the last month.

"I think I was batting below .100 at one point," he said. "It was tough. But this means everything. This feels great."

One out later, Hui walked. Aaron Minton moved to third on a wild pitch, but Jack Wessell's popped up a bunt to Navarez at first base for the second out. Ketelsen's pitching stint ended after he walked Josephson to load the bases.

Rohan Kasanagottu made a good pitch to Bradshaw, who chopped one up the third base line. Cunningham fielded it cleanly, but the ball got stuck in his glove for a beat, allowing Bradshaw to leg out an RBI infield hit that gave the Padres a 3-2 lead they would never relinquish.

"That's what it's all about," Bradshaw said. "That's what I think our identity is. We just play hard, play for each other. I didn't care how I did it. I was just doing what I could to make sure that I was playing for the guy next to me, putting my body on the line and doing what I can do to help just win the game."

Valley jumped to a 1-o lead when Ketelsen led off with a single against Riley Lim. Navarez followed with a single to left. He moved to third and, one out later, scored on Ortiz's safety squeeze bunt up the first-base line.

Cunningham led off the third with a single, moved to second on an infield grounder. He broke for third on Navarez's grounder to short, which caused Josephson to take his eye off the ball for an error. Cunningham scored on a Marsh base hit to make it 2-o.

That would be all Lim would allow. The junior went five innings and scattered five hits. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.

Meanwhile, Ketelsen, the WCAL's pitcher of the year, didn't survive the fourth inning. He struck out five but walked six. He was tagged with three earned runs and his first loss of the year.

W: Lim. L: Ketelsen. S: Hui. 2 hits- Marsh (VC), Ketelsen (VC), Armstrong (S). 2 RBI- A.Minton (S). 2B- A.Minton (S)