Rivalry stokes Serra bats

The Padres (5-2 WCAL, 13-2 overall) rose to the occasion, rallying for an emotional 9-6 home win against a familiar St. Ignatius team, one that features a core of players native to San Mateo.

“These guys all grew up playing one another too,” Padres manager Mat Keplinger said. “Not only is this just a historic rivalry between the two schools, but all these kids just know each other so well.”

Even though Serra hasn’t experienced a losing streak this season, Keplinger had a stern reminder for his club before Saturday’s showdown. After losing the previous day — falling 10-4 to Valley Christian at Frisella Stadium — the Padres had dropped back-to-back home games. Their only other loss of the season came March 25 to St. Francis before hitting the road, where Serra is a perfect 7-0 this season.

“That was just something we addressed with the team before ... just taking our road mentality at home and taking it to our home field,” Keplinger said.

But it took some big swings on the scoreboard for the Padres to earn the “W.”

Serra went on the attack early, getting a big blast in the second inning from senior Tyler Harrison, who delivered a three-run home run to right-center field, his second of the year. St. Ignatius fired right back, retaliating with a 5-spot in the top of the third, fueled by a power show from San Mateo native Archer Horn and Pacifica native D.J. Delaney.

Delaney’s two-run blast to tie it 3-3 was a spectacle in its aftermath. St. Ignatius drew a dugout warning from the umpire for a bat flip that landed on the infield, and ended with a fan being ejected from the stadium for engaging an umpire in an argument.

“A lot of pretty emotional moments there for everybody with some big bat flips going on,” Keplinger said.

The Wildcats jumped ahead on a two-run double by junior Ryan Rosenthal.

While Serra starting pitcher Riley Lim scuffled through his shortest outing of the year — allowing five runs on five hits and four walks through three innings of work — the Serra offense got him off the hook for the decision. The Padres struck back for four runs in the bottom of the fourth, highlighted by a bases-loaded, two-run single by senior Davis Minton. After Minton stole second, senior Jack Armstrong cashed in on the next pitch with a two-run single to give Serra a 7-5 lead.

The Padres finished the day with 12 hits, their season-high in WCAL games, and a program-record 10 stolen bases.

“After [Harrison’s home run], it was just a really good team effort,” Keplinger said. “Obviously he led the way going 3 for 3 ... but today was one of the first days with us going all the way through the lineup.”

Right-hander Aiden Waters settled things down on the mound for Serra. The junior earned the win with three scoreless inning of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out four. It was Waters’ second clutch relief appearance of the week, as he also pitched three innings in Serra’s 5-4 win last Tuesday at Valley Christian.

Serra added two more in the fifth. Harrison set the table with a leadoff double. After he stole third, senior Evan Bradshaw drove him home with an infield single over the middle. Bradshaw then swiped his way to third with two stolen bases, setting it up for an RBI single from Minton to make it 9-5.

The Wildcats (5-1, 8-3-2) made it interesting in the seventh, though. Junior right-hander Nate Hui pitched himself into and out of trouble. After loading the bases, Hui walked San Mateo native Chase Gordon to force home a run and bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate with one out. With another San Mateo local at the plate, however, Hui induced a ground ball to the left side of the infield, with shortstop Ian Josephson making a nice play off his back foot to start a 6-4-3 double play, with first baseman William Walbridge making a clean pick on the backend to end it.

“To [Hui’s] credit, he settled down,” Keplinger said, “and the middle infield did a great job turning a double play.”

Finishing out a busy stretch of three games in five days, the Padres were content to go 2-1 on the week. This as they wind down a top-heavy first half of their WCAL schedule.

“We are right in the middle of the gauntlet of league play right now,” Keplinger said. “It was a challenging draw on the schedule to go Bellarmine, St. Francis, Valley Christian and straight to St. Ignatius. It’s about as challenging as it gets on that front.”

Serra is now tied for second place with St. Francis, a half game behind first-place St. Ignatius. The Padres and Wildcats conclude their two-game series Tuesday at Fairmont Field. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.