Capuchino pitcher fires gem in dream start at Oracle Park

“It was pretty cool,” Mendel said. “It was just cool to watch. I was like: ‘I can’t believe I’m going to be down there.’ It kind of didn’t feel real.”

What Mendel didn’t know was he was going to match the final score of the Reds’ win over the Giants, as the right-hander fired a four-hit shutout in Cap’s 1-0 victory over the Panthers. It was the senior’s first complete-game shutout of the year, and the second of his three-year varsity career.

The setting for this one, however, was like a dream come true.

“It always has been a dream of mine, I can say, because I’ve always wanted to go further in baseball ... and it’s always been a dream of mine to be a Major League Baseball player,” Mendel said.

The Mustangs (2-3 PAL Bay, 10-8 overall) punctuated the win with a major league celebration, as well. Playing in front of approximately 3,000 fans — the biggest crowd Mendel has ever played in front of, he said — Cap seized on the drama as Mendel finished the game with the potential tying run at first base by recording his fourth strikeout of the night.

“The kids ... they were jumping all over the place,” Mustangs manager Matt Wilson said. “They were really excited.”

Mendel finished with 104 pitches, just shy of the 110 maximum pitch limit allowed for varsity games. Wilson said Mendel’s matchup with Burlingame junior Preet Mallen was ticketed to be his last batter of the game, whether he got him out or not. Mendel settled his manager’s quandary by getting a called third strike framed on the outside corner by senior catcher Lucas Zayac.

“I think the adrenaline kind of kicked in,” Wilson said.

The chance to play the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division contest on the big league diamond came about when the Giants reached out to Burlingame, Wilson said. Plans were made at the beginning of February to reschedule one of the games between the two rival programs set for the last week of the regular season for Saturday night in San Francisco.

Each team was required to sell 1,000 dual-admission tickets as part of the agreement with the Giants. Fans were offered tickets for one of three various Giants home games. The admission for Saturday’s game was granted with the purchase of said ticket.

The Mustangs arrived for the game via bus, parking in the southwest visitor’s parking lot attached to the stadium. They entered through the players’ entrance, and were ushered to the dugouts — Burlingame in the home dugout on the third-base side, and Cap in the visitor dugout along the first-base line.

“We had a good time,” Wilson said. “It was cool. It was a great time for the kids. I mean walking out on the field, it was cool ... but to see the joy in the kids’ eyes. ... You could just see it in their eyes how excited they were.”

Mendel said he was in awe of warming up in the visitors’ outfield bullpen, but had a strange calm upon taking the mound for the bottom of the first.

“I was a little bit nervous but not really because it wasn’t like a huge game,” Mendel said. “It was just a regular league game. I was just trying to take it all in ... but I wasn’t like super, super nervous.”

It helped the Mustangs got Mendel a run before he took the field. Zayac set the table in the top of the first with a single on a liner down the left-field line. After courtesy runner Gavin Sekioka entered, Cap loaded the bases with a single from Anakin Manuel and a walk to Travis Ciardella.

Will Hafer followed with a groundout over the middle to drive home Sekioka with the game’s only run.

“I was hoping for a few more runs,” Wilson said. “We had a couple chances with runners in scoring position, but we just didn’t get the big hit.”

Burlingame starting pitcher Dionisios Vorrises settled down to throw a gem in his own right. The senior right-hander worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits and three walks, while striking out two.

“He did a great job,” Wilson said. “He kept us off balance.”

Sophomore right-hander Mark O’Grady got the last out in the seventh to finish with one-third of an inning.

Zayac paced all hitters, going 3 for 4. Junior Jean-Luc Uharriet led the Panthers (2-5, 7-9) with two hits.

Wilson said the crowd took on a lot more life than a normal game, rising to their feet to cheer for Mendel after he recorded his second strike.

“At end of the game, it was like you were at a big league baseball game,” Wilson said. “All the fans got up and were clapping. ... I think that gave Declan a little more adrenaline.”