King’s ace left-hander gives Sequoia the royal treatment

Wednesday’s happy bus ride home from Sunnyvale had Sequoia dreaming of a sweep. But the Knights dashed those dreams by turning to left-handed starter Sean DeBoard, who continued his rebound from injury to fire five shutout innings in TKA’s 6-1 win Friday at Sequoia.

“He had some good stuff, but we know we can hit,” Sequoia sophomore Morgan Winfield said. “It was just on off day for our offense today.”

DeBoard entered the day with just 11 innings pitched on the season, but stepped up to earn his first win of the year. After the southpaw pitched through trouble in both the first and second innings, TKA jumped ahead with a two-run rally in the third. DeBoard went on to retire the side in order in the third, fourth and fifth innings, setting down 13 straight, until Winfield connected for a solo home run in the sixth.

By that time, TKA had the game in hand, having already scored all six of its runs.

“We’re slowly ramping him up,” Knights manager Greg Mugg said, “and he pitched outstanding. He had a pitch limit today, but he was able to stay within that and still pitch into the fifth inning.”

Sequoia (5-5, 11-11) countered with senior right-hander Luke Ulrich, who worked 4 2/3 innings in a losing effort. Ulrich’s stuff was crisp, his fastball had good second-stage life, and he was at his best with his back against the wall. His command betrayed him several times though — he walked four and hit three batters — as did his defense, as the Ravens committed four errors on the day.

“I thought Luke pitched his ass off for us,” Ravens manager Mike Doyle said. “He got through the first and second innings with no runs. He’s just kind of the ultimate competitor for us.”

Ulrich’s ability to pitch through the first inning was particularly impressive. It was a jam of his own making, as he lost TKA leadoff hitter Anthony White to a walk after being ahead 1-2 in the count. Before he threw another pitch, Ulrich misfired with an errant pickoff throw to first, allowing White to race around to third base with no outs. Ulrich buckled down, though, striking out two in the inning to strand the runner at third.

In the second, TKA loaded the bases with one out by virtue of an infield errors and two hit batsmen. But Ulrich responded again, notching a strikeout before escaping the jam with a foul fly to left fielder Max Stallings to leave the bases loaded.

TKA struck in the third though. After a one-out walk to Nate Plata, cleanup hitter Ethan Johnson connected for the Knights’ first hit of the game, cranking a double up the right-center gap to score Plata all the way from first. Johnson then scored on a two-out infield error to make it 2-0.

“We were just kind of loose today,” Doyle said of Sequoia’s uncharacteristically poor defense. “We were looser than we normally are. ... We’re normally pretty buttoned up on defense.”

In the fifth, the Knights knocked Ulrich out of the game, scoring three runs, all charged to Sequoia’s starter. DeBoard and Aiden Rhee each tabbed singles in the inning, one that also included a hit batter by Ulrich, and a walk and another hit batter by Winfield in relief. TKA added an insurance run in the sixth with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Nike Orozco to make it 6-0.

Junior catcher Logan Mathias turned in Sequoia’s best defensive highlight, gunning out a would-be base stealer at third base in the fifth inning.

“I like throwing guys out,” Mathias said. “It feels good.”

A sturdy backstop who calls his own pitches and enjoys winging the ball around the bases, Mathias has been regaining his arm strength since undergoing arm surgery just under a year ago.

“The beginning of the year, my arm was not that good,” Mathias said. “I didn’t really get any caught stealings for a good amount of games. Now it’s starting to come back, and I’m starting to throw out a good amount of runners every time, every game.”

Mathias also enjoyed a big day at the plate in Wednesday’s 3-2 win in Sunnyvale, matching his career high with three hits, while driving in a run and notching his first career triple. Combined with a winning start from senior right-hander Aaron Harkov, and three shutout innings of relief from Stallings, it made for a happy bus ride home.

“The bus trip was fun,” Winfield said. “We had some music blasting in the back. Everybody was yelling, everybody was having fun. It was a good time on the bus ride.”

Friday, it was TKA’s turn to enjoy a happy trip home.

With Burlingame rallying for a 3-2 in Friday in Atherton to sweep Sacred Heart Prep, the Knights remain deadlocked in first place with Burlingame. Third-place Menlo-Atherton is one game back of first after getting swept by Carlmont this week.

“Obviously it was a big win for us,” Mugg said. “It’s always a battle in the Bay. Everyone has a tendency to always beat up on each other a little bit. But given the fact that we lost the game, a tight ballgame, then bounced back today, put up a lot of runs, pitched well, played good defense, it’s a good bounce back game for us. We’ve just got to take it one game at a time and make sure we do the basics well.”

There are four league games remaining in the regular season for every Bay Division team. TKA takes on M-A in a big two-game series this coming week.

“We’ve got a shot,” Mugg said. “We’re definitely in the mix. I think for the most part we control our own destiny. So, it’s just a matter of ... taking care of our business and ... keeping it one game at a time.”

Burlingame has a two-game set with Sequoia, with the Ravens still mathematically in the hunt, tied for fourth place, two games back of first.