Serra baseball eyes plenty of Peninsula Athletic League opponents

Serra will hold a two-game scrimmage series this week with Bellarmine, though, hosting the Bells Tuesday before traveling to the San Jose campus Wednesday. Only immediate family will be allowed to attend the scrimmages. There will be no admittance to the Serra campus for prospective baseball spectators.

“We’re hoping it changes,” Serra manager Chris Houle said. “We’re hoping they start to allow more (fans).”

Serra opens with a cluster of non-league games against PAL teams this season. After the opener against Hillsdale, the Padres host Aragon on Friday, April 9, then travel to Menlo-Atherton on Saturday, April 10. On Wednesday, April 14, they host Carlmont. And their final non-league warmup prior to the start of West Catholic Athletic League play in the annual trip to Washington Park to take on Burlingame, Friday, April 16.

“I personally like the idea of playing the PAL teams and the local teams here,” Houle said. “For me, I think it’s fun. It’s good for the Peninsula for us to play as many of those teams as possible.”

While fans won’t yet be able to access Frisella Field, Serra fans might just be able to hear the thunder of the Padres’ bats far and wide. Houle is touting an exceptionally slugging-rich lineup this year, featuring two of the only players on roster with an actual full year of varsity experience in catcher Nico Button and Santa Clara University-bound third baseman Thomas Gould.

“Obviously, we’re kind of relying on Thomas and Nico,” Houle said. “They were on the varsity two years ago, so they have the most varsity experience.”

Otherwise, the rest of Serra’s returning players have seen just four games of varsity action — this, the number of games the Padres played last year before the season was shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic.

One of those bats, though, is senior Pat Keighran, a middle-of-the-order presence and University of San Francisco commit who went 3 for 6 with two doubles and two RBIs in the team’s limited play last season.

“We’ve got guys who can swing it,” Houle said. “We’ve got some guys who are pretty strong and hit the ball for power. We run pretty well. We’ve just seen a lot of confident hitters in the early part of the year. That’s a good sign.”

Senior left-hander Connor Brady is the only other player on roster who saw action in 2019. Otherwise, the pitching staff is something of a mystery.

Senior right-hander Will Pires made two appearances last year — one good and one not so good — while right-hander Rahmi Ismail and sophomore right-hander Jack Brownfield have zero varsity experience.

“That’s something you’re just going to have to wait and see until we get into games,” Houle said. “Hopefully those guys will pick it up.”

The CCS is still considering a playoff format for the 2021 season but has yet to make a decision. Houle said the WCAL is planning to play its traditional postseason tournament.

Mainly, Houle said, the Padres are excited to be stepping onto the diamond again.

“I think they’re definitely excited, obviously,” Houle said. “We’re going to be a senior-heavy team. So, I think especially for those guys not having a season last year, they just want to be able to basically finish these last two months of school and have something enjoyable to do. Those guys have had so much taken away from them in the last year ... it’s a win for them just to be able to get out there and play.”