Capuchino sophomore Aidan Mendel delivers vs. Sequoia in PAL Bay Division baseball opener

The Mustangs (1-0 PAL Bay, 10-2 overall) vindicated their loss in last year’s Central Coast Section Division II quarterfinals to Sequoia, riding their youthful battery of sophomore pitcher Aidan Mendel and freshman catcher Lucas Zayac to a 7-4 win over the Ravens in Redwood City.

“Last year was last year, this is this year,” Capuchino manager Matt Wilson said.

When the two teams met on the postseason stage last year, Cap took a four-run lead into the final inning. But Sequoia pulled off a stunning comeback with a seven-run rally in the top of the seventh to advance in the Division II tournament, and eventually claim the CCS championship.

Sequoia (0-1, 2-4-1) looked like it might write a similar ending Wednesday, taking a bite out of a 7-2 Capuchino lead with a two-run double from Cole Kenyon in the bottom of the sixth. The Ravens went on to get the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, in the person of Kenyon, but Mendel buckled down to freeze Sequoia’s big No. 3 hitter with a paralyzer curveball for a called third strike to end it.

Mendel went the distance, surrendering four runs on seven hits while striking out four. It was just his second varsity start, and his first complete game. And he was certainly feeling it in the seventh, when his adrenaline seemed to add an uptick of velocity to his fastball.

“I was trying my hardest out there,” Mendel said. “I wanted to finish. I didn’t really want to get pulled out in the seventh inning. I wanted to finish it, so I gave it my all.”

Mendel was a late addition to the starting rotation. Due to a minor injury to senior starting pitcher Ryan Lordier earlier in the week, the Mustangs shuffled their rotation and brought Mendel into the fold. The sophomore was informed Tuesday at practice he’d take the mound for the Bay Division opener.

“We needed someone to step in,” Wilson said, “and as a sophomore he’s got good stuff, he doesn’t really wear the fear, he just kind of goes out there and competes. When you have guys like that that are just good baseball players and can compete, it’s easy to make a decision.”

Wilson was faced with a hard decision in the seventh inning though. With a three-run lead, Mendel’s shot at the CG was in jeopardy after Robert Oda reached on a one-out infield error, and with two outs Justin Deppiesse got hit by a pitch.

But Wilson stuck with his young starter, and Mendel delivered.

“I said: ‘No matter what, this is the last one for you,’” Wilson said. “And I think the adrenaline took over, because he was really throwing well at the end of this game.”

Sequoia suffered from health issues with its scheduled starting pitcher as well. Staff ace Dillon Goetz took the mound as scheduled, but a rib cage injury cut his day short. The senior departed after two-plus innings of work after surrendering a home run to Capuchino senior Ryan Choi.

The Ravens scored in each of the first four innings, including single runs in the first and second. In the first, Timothy Jang led off with game with a double and later scored on an infield error. In the second, Cap scored with runners at the corners on a wheel steal, with Zayac swiping home when Ryan Burton was thrown out at second.

Sequoia got a run back in the bottom of the second on a sacrifice fly by Gavin Murphy, whose long fly ball to center might have opened the door for a big inning if not for a tremendous running catch by Choi in center field.

“I thought that was insane,” Mendel said. “I was stoked on that. That really saved us because if that ball got down, that’s probably a run or two, and that possibly could have changed the game. So, that was a big catch.”

Then in the top of the third, Goetz exited after getting tagged for the solo homer. The right-hander was showing signs of discomfort before facing Choi, warranting a mound visit from manager Mike Doyle.

“He felt a little tweak on the batter before, and I went out and asked him if he was OK,” Doyle said. “He said he was fine. And then he gave up the home run, and that’s when I went back out. … So, we made the change.”

Doyle said he expects Goetz to return to the rotation soon.

“It’s not an arm issue so hopefully it won’t keep him out too long,” Doyle said.

Sequoia reliever Aaron Melz was hurried into action, and went on to turn in his longest outing of the year with five innings of work.

“All’s I hear is: ‘Melz! You’re up!’” Melz said. “And then I have to go out and pitch cold turkey. My arms not very rested. So, I had to go out and do what I had to do.”

Cap greeted the sophomore reliever by rallying for two more runs in the fourth, scoring on a bloop single by Zayac, who later crossed the plate on a wild pitch. After Sequoia got a run back in the bottom of the third on an RBI groundout by Deppiesse, the Mustangs added two more insurance runs in the fourth. Nicolas Caruso came through with the big hit, a two-run single scoring Nathan Balch and Jang.

Mendel did the rest, though he had to dig deep in the seventh to do it against the no-quit Ravens.

“There’s a lot of things we need to do better, but you can’t really coach the no-quit part,” Doyle said. “So, I’m really proud of all 21 of those kids, and they battled till the end.”

The two teams rematch Friday night with Capuchino hosting Sequoia at San Bruno Park. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.