St. Ignatius bats simply 'mash'

MOUNTAIN VIEW – Something had to give on Tuesday when a dynamic offense – even without one of its key pieces – went against a pitching staff that had allowed nine earned runs all season.

Six pitches into the ballgame, that something quickly gave.

St. Ignatius Prep senior Archer Horn launched what appeared to be a flyball to medium deep right field, but with a backspin and a lot of carry, the ball kept sailing, sending Saint Francis right fielder Tanner Wall to the fence. The ball bounded hard off the wall and back toward the infield.

Horn who sprinted out of the batter's box, was rounding second as the ball hit the fence and was on his way to third. When he got there, the ball was still rolling and Brian Pollzzie waved him home for an inside-the-park homer that opened the floodgates to the Wildcats' 10-6 road victory.

"I think the wind helped it a little bit," said Horn, who had four hits and scored three runs in the contest. "I thought (Wall) was camped under it, but I knew I got a good swing on it, and enough backspin so it kept going.

"I was surprised when I got waved home. I thought I had an easy standup triple."

That runs was the first earned run surrendered by Brody Larocque all season and served as statement for St. Ignatius Prep, which pounded out 15 hits, including at least one in each inning.

"That's what we do," Horn said. "We mash and that's what we're going to continue to do."

Larocque pitched into the fifth, allowing four runs – all of them earned – on eight hits and two walks, while striking out six.

The Wildcats played without centerfielder DJ Delaney, who took the team's pregame infield and was on the field between innings collecting bats, but wasn't in the lineup for an undisclosed reason. He said he'd be back in the lineup on Friday when the same two teams meet at Fairmont Park.

In Delaney's absence, Chase Gordon had two hits, while brothers Jack and Cole Callen combined for five hits – three by Cole, who started at third base. Jack had a triple to the fence in right-center field and perhaps the biggest hit of the game, a two-out bunt up the third-base line that scored Horn to give St. Ignatius Prep a 2-0 lead.

Saint Francis cut the score to 2-1 in the bottom of the third on Landon King's double to left-center field that chased Aaron Bonini home from first, but the Wildcats broke it open with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, four in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

By the time the Lancers rallied for five runs over the last two innings, the game had all but been decided.

W: Rhein | L: Larocque | S: Law | 4 hits- Horn (SI). 3 hits- C.Callen (SI). 2 hits- J.Callen (SI), Gordon (SI), Kott (SI), McMillan (SF). 2 RBI- Rosenthal (S), Gordon (SI), McMillan (SF). HR- Horn (SI). 3B- J.Callen (SI), Dommer (SF). 2B- Horn (SI), King (SF), McMillan (SF).

Valley Christian 5, Sacred Heart Cathedral 2

Gabe Felix pitched four innings, allowing two runs while striking out six to pick up the win.

Junior Alex Moutzouridis led Valley's offensive attack with three hits, while Aiden Lepisi drove in two runs.

The Irish held a lead late in the contest despite managing just two hits, one of them a double by Max Nylander.

W: Felix | L: Tiopine | 3 hits- Moutzouridis (VC). 2 RBI- Lepisi (VC). 2B- Nylander (SHC).

Mitty 3, Riordan 2, 9 innings

Elijah Kroenung had three hits, including a home run, as Mitty held service and kept Riordan winless in WCAL play.

The Monarchs broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the ninth when Ethan Chase singled home Noah Fishman, who led off the frame with a base hit.

Tyler Manago had two hits for Mitty, while Dante Curmi and freshman Rio Lamotte had two hits each.

W: Kim | L: Gaenslan | 3 hits- Kroenung (M). 2 hits- Manago (M), Curmi (R), Lamotte (R). HR- Kroenung (M). 2B- Hernandez )R).

Bellarmine 2, Serra 1

Ollie McNamara's home run in the bottom of the seventh broke a 1-1 tie and walked off the Bells to a huge win in WCAL play.

Serra had tied the game in the top of the seventh on Brody Crudeli's first home run of his career. However, it served only as a set up for McNamara's heroics in the bottom of the inning.

The loss was Serra's fourth straight in WCAL play and came in spite of a strong outing from Riley Lim, who went the distance and allowed just the two runs on four hits.

McNamara threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings before departing. Will Pennington was tagged with the run before Ryder Suba closed out the seventh and eventually picked up the win.

McNamara and Nathan Chew had two hits each for the Bells, while Crudeli had two hits for the Padres.

W: Suba | L: Lim | 2 hits- Crudeli (S), Chew (B), McNamara (B). HR- Crudeli (S), McNamara )B). 2B- Moore (S), Chew (B).

Sacred Heart Prep 1, Gunn 0

The Gators eked out one run and found a way to top Gunn to improve to 12-4.

Nico Pollioni had two hits for Sacred Heart Prep, which will take on Mountain View on Saturday.

W: Larson | L: Noh | 2 hits- Pollioni (SHP), Noh (G). 2B- Bogart (G), Noh (G).

Woodside 13, Mills 8

In a game that featured 26 hits, Mateus Mokhtarani had five of them, including three doubles.

Of the Wildcats' 15 hits, 10 of them went for extra bases, including a home run by Jeremiah Arias-Torres.

Cruz Torres had three hits, including a double and a triple. Nick Lafon led Mills with four hits, while Ethan Wong had two hits.

W: Comfort | L: Wong | 5 hits- Mokhtarani (W). 4 hits- Lafon (M). 3 hits- Torres (W). 2 hits- Comfort (W), Wong (M), Arias-Torres (W). HR- Arias-Torres (W). 3B- Torres (W). 2B- Mokhtarani (w) 3, Comfort (W) 2, Dalrymple (W) 2, Torres (W), Wong (M), Lafon (M).

San Mateo 8, South San Francisco 3

The Bearcats won their fourth straight game by erupting for five runs in the sixth inning to break open a 3-3 game.

Christian Louie went five innings and allowed three runs in the third inning, two of them on a single by sophomore Josh Ornelas. Louie struck out nine, but left without a decision.

Tyce Copus earned the victory by pitching two innings of relief. He also had two hits, including a double. The big hit for the Bearcats was a home run by Michael Lackey, who finished the game with three RBI.

Louie, Apollo Lee and Julio Calderon had two hits each for San Mateo.

W: Copus | L: Nabung | 2 hits- Copus (SM), Louie (SM), Lee (SM), Calderon (SM), Ornelas (SSF). 3 RBI- Lackey (SM). 2 RBI- Orneles (SSF). HR- Lackey (SM). 2B- Copus (SM).

Terra Nova 2, Aragon 1

Aiden James broke a 1-1 tie with a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning and Jesse Martinez went the distance to give the Tigers a much-needed Ocean Division victory over the upstart Dons.

Aragon got a strong pitching performance from Xavier Ruiz, who scattered seven hits. Martinez threw 100 pitches and gave up just a run on eight hits, while striking out four. He three 100 pitches.

James had two hits for the Tigers, while Alex Gosselin and James Wright had two hits each for Aragon.

The two teams will play again on Thursday in San Mateo.

W: Martinez | L: Ruiz | 2 hits- James (TN), Wright (A), Gosselin (A). HR- James (TN). 2B- Derby (TN), Mattye (A), Mazzola (A).