Serra baseball shoots down Burlingame in extras

And while It took 10 innings for the bats to wake up, in the end, the Serra Padres (6-0) finally did what the Serra Padres do, rallying for six runs in the top of the 10th to claim a 7-4 win over Burlingame (5-2).

“Well, honestly, practice makes perfect,” Serra senior Pablo Ossio said. “In situations like this I like to think about Babe Ruth. He said: ‘Every strikeout, I get closer to a home run.’ So, in this situation, you bounce back.”

While it wasn’t a game-winning home run Ossio provided, it certainly felt like one when the left-handed hitting senior stepped to the plate with the bases loaded, score deadlocked at 1-1 in the top of the 10th, and roped a go-ahead single into left field to score Thomas Gould.

“As a lefty, a lot of guys say lefties can’t hit the other way,” Ossio said. “But I like to prove them wrong. That’s been my strength.”

Gould started the hit parade when he led off the inning with a solid double down the left-field line. Then, after back-to-back walks to load the bases, Ossio sparked the RBI parade. Connor Dorgan followed with a two-run single. Then DJ Ghiorso and Patrick Keighran produced RBI knocks.

Burlingame didn’t go quietly in the bottom of the inning though. The Panthers loaded the bases with back-to-back singles by Keunho Kim and Lou Martineau, followed by a walk to Johnny Suarez. Kim scored on a wild pitch. Then with two outs, Jacob Cilia scorched a two-run double to left.

But Serra right-hander Will Pires entered to extinguish the rally, recording the save — and fittingly so — on a night that, other than the 10th inning, featured outstanding pitching on both sides.

Burlingame starter Noah Larkin worked 6 2/3 innings, and earned an animated high-five from manager Shawn Scott when he departed in the middle of the seventh. Larkin had just produced a strikeout of Keighran with runners at the corners and one out, before handing the ball to reliever Josh Coleman, who induced a quick flyout to escape the jam.

Serra starter Jack Brownfield was solid through 3 1/3 innings. And reliever Ryan Beck went longer than he probably imagined he’d have to, working 5 2/3 innings to earn the victory.

But it was the arm of Serra center fielder Joey Lee that stole the show. It was the senior’s assist throw to cut down Cilia at the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning that propelled the game into extra innings. It was Burlingame’s biggest threat of the night after Cilia reached on a double down the right-field line. Jake Caprini followed with a sharp single to center that looked as though it might give the Panthers the lead.

But Lee had something to say about that with a laser beam of a throw to catcher Nico Button, who applied a sweet swipe tag to just get Cilia on a bang-bang play at the plate.

“I saw it was on line,” Lee said. “So I saw we had a chance. And if we could get that, that was big for us.”

And the emotional swing for Serra was huge.

“I was so pumped,” Lee said. “The team was pumped. Everyone was pumped.”

Serra drew first blood in the fifth. PK Walsh set the table with a leadoff double. After a bunt single by Ghiorso, Will Bowen — who was 4 for 5 with a walk — flared an infield single to score Walsh, giving the Padres a 1-0 lead.

But Burlingame stole a run in the sixth. With runners at first and third, and two out, Taylor Kaufman at first broke for second with the pitcher, Beck, still in the stretch. The tactic worked as Beck stepped off the mound and ran at Kaufman, but some crafty baserunning induced a game of pickle. And when the shortstop muffed the throw from Beck, Kim at third sprinted home with the tying run.

This year’s matchup marked the first between Serra and Burlingame wince 2018. Burlingame hasn’t beaten Serra since 2012, when the Panthers escaped with a 1-0 victory.

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