San Mateo native Chase Gordon fires NorCal gem for St. Ignatius

It was a gutsy choice by St. Ignatius manager Brian Pollzzie to turn to Gordon in the Wildcats’ first NorCal appearance (the California Interscholastic Federation tournament debuted last season) seeing as the untested left-hander is a freshman with five previous varsity appearances, all in relief. But the San Mateo native delivered, firing a six-hitter in the Wildcats’ 5-1 win to advance to Saturday’s NorCal Division II championship game.

“One, very surprised,” Gordon said of being told Wednesday he’d be starting the semifinal. “And, two, just knowing it’s a big game, one of my biggest games, I knew I just had to go out and do what I’ve been doing and try to get us on to the next round.”

During the varsity regular season, Gordon threw just 6 1/3 innings but thrust himself into the rotation by virtue of a stellar outing in the semifinals of the Central Coast Section Division I playoffs. While the Wildcats were eliminated from the CCS tournament with a 4-0 loss April 24 to eventual Division I champion Valley Christian, Gordon entered from the bullpen and fired 5 1/3 shutout innings, allowing just three hits against a Warriors lineup hitting .325 on the season.

Taking the ball Thursday, Gordon ran into some early trouble. St. Ignatius staked the freshman a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but in the third Bellarmine’s Chase Knight socked an RBI double to cut the lead in half. With Knight representing the tying run at second, Gordon escaped the jam, striking out the Bells’ No. 3 hitter with a backdoor slider for the final out of the inning.

St. Ignatius rallied for three runs in the bottom of the third, and Bellarmine would not get the tying run to plate for the remainder of the game.

“That was definitely a confidence booster,” Gordon said. “That’s when I started getting comfortable ... knowing I had gone through the heart of the order, and being able to use all my stuff and knowing it’s all working.”

It was the second complete game of the tournament for the Wildcats, who earned their first NorCal victory in program history Tuesday with a 3-2 nail-biter against Granite Bay. Senior right-hander Jackson Short went the distance to improve his record to 7-4.

For Gordon, the CG was his first at any level in several years. He said the last time he threw one was for his travel team, the West Coast Federals — an organization that has impacted the St. Ignatius baseball program greatly. He is one of three freshmen on the varsity roster, along with Archer Horn and AJ Wineinger — to play together with his father Jason’s Federals team. The travel organization also produced sophomore Beau Schaffer and senior Lenny Beatie.

Horn, also a freshman, has solidified himself in the St. Ignatius rotation. With 36 1/3 innings pitched, his workload ranks second on the staff behind only Short. The Hillsborough native is 3-2 with a 2.12 ERA, and leads the team with two saves.

“He’s been great,” Gordon said. “He’s been lights out all year. He’s been that guy we’ve gone to in big situations ... and he’s usually always steps up to the plate and gets the job done.”

Gordon and Horn — who have played together since they were 8 — made the decision together to attend St. Ignatius, Gordon said.

“Me and him, we had both gone to camp with the St. Ignatius coach, we both talked it out and both loved the school, so we figured the both of us, with our chemistry, we’d be a great duo,” Gordon said.

St. Ignatius will close the season on the road, traveling to Petaluma to face No. 3 Casa Grande in Saturday’s NorCal Division II championship game. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

It’s been a breakout season for the Wildcats’ baseball program. With an 19-12 overall record, it marks their best mark since 2012, the year St. Ignatius won 23 games and captured the CCS Division II championship, the only section title in program history.

Now, the team is gunning for another first, this time in the NorCal finals.

“It means a lot,” Gordon said. “We’ve been working since Jan. 31 and what all these seniors have put into this program for four years, they deserve the world ... and bringing home a Division II Nor Cal title has to be icing on the cake.”

Saturday’s other NorCal finals

Division I — No. 1 Valley Christian-San Jose hosts No. 2 De La Salle-Concord at 1 p.m.

Division III — No. 2 Central Catholic-Modesto hosts No. 5 Oakmont-Roseville at 4 p.m.

Division IV — No. 1 Sutter Union hosts No. 3 Gridley at 4 p.m.

Division V — No. 2 University hosts No. 5 Lowell in an all-San Francisco matchup at Paul Goode Field at 1 p.m.