Serra baseball shuts down Hillsdale

“All of these (PAL) teams are good baseball teams and they want to compete,” Houle said. “There are good baseball players in the county. … There is good parity.”

Tuesday was the second of four straight games against PAL teams when Serra took the short drive down Alameda de las Pulgas to face host Hillsdale.

And if this was a test for both teams, both were OK with outcome — a 3-0 Serra win in a game that last less than two hours.

“It’s a good measuring stick for us as we get into league,” said Houle, with the start of West Catholic Athletic League opener next week in Mountain View at St. Francis.

“We’re still a work in progress,” Houle continued. “We’re struggling offensively. We’re still trying to find it.”

Serra (6-1) had its issues against Hillsdale starter Nick Strezo and reliever Chris Kelly, who limited to the Padres to just seven hits and just extra-base hit, a Ben Cleary fifth-inning double.

“Their pitchers did a good job,” Houle said.

Hillsdale (4-1), however, had their own problems with Serra starter Jack Brownfield.

While not overwhelming, Brownfield used a deep repertoire of pitches to hold the Knights to just four hits as he worked into the sixth inning.

“Really good job by Brownfield. It was his first start. He looked good,” Houle said. “He did a good job keeping guys off base.”

But when Brownfield issued a four-pitch walk to Blake Cowans leading off the seventh inning, Houle went to his bullpen and brought in lefty Trevor Burns, who proceeded to strike out the side looking to end the game.

“You cannot take strike three (looking). You have to protect,” said Hillsdale manager Ed Serrata. “[Brownfield] was certainly crafty. … That’s a guy who has more than one pitch. He had three or four pitches. We have to find a way to have a better approach (at the plate).”

Strezo got a 5-4-3 double play to get out of a two-on, one-out jam to open the game before retiring the Padres in order in the second.

In the third, Serra got on the scoreboard — scoring twice without hitting the ball out of the infield. No. 8 hitter, catcher Jake Torres, opened the inning with a single to right. Henry White followed with a sacrifice bunt and leadoff hitter Will Kinney walked to put runners on first and second. A groundout to first moved both runners up a base to bring up No. 3 hitter Tyler Peruzzaro. On a 0-1 pitch, Peruzzaro hit a slow roller up the third-base line. Hillsdale third baseman Ethan Sakai charged the ball, scooping it and sending an off-balance throw over to first base.

Hillsdale first baseman Dylan Monozon couldn’t quite dig the throw out of the dirt and, with both runners moving on the play, both scored to give Serra a 2-0 lead.

“Put the ball in play and make the other team make a play,” Houle said.

The Padres tacked on another run in the top of the fourth. Serra designated hitter Julian Martinez blooped a single into no-man’s-land in shallow right-center field. Lucas Schumaker followed and was hit by a pitch and Kai Laxa legged out a bunt to load the bases. Strezo got a flyout to right field for the first out, but couldn’t duplicate it when Henry White drove in Martinez with a sacrifice fly to right for a 3-0 Serra lead.

Meanwhile, Brownfield was handcuffing Hillsdale hitters. One of the Knights’ best scoring chances came in the second inning when, with two outs, Jackson Sierra singled. Andrew Khau followed and jumped on the first pitch, send a drive to deep left-center field.

Serra outfielder Schumaker raced back to make the catch, but couldn’t hang on as he fell backward. After reaching out to grab the loose ball and hold it up in an attempt to dupe the umpire, to no avail, he bounced to his feet, hit cutoff man Cleary, who relayed a throw to catcher Torres in plenty of time to tag out Sierra, who was trying to score from second.

In the fourth, Joe Hoskins singled and stole second, but was stranded there. In the sixth, Tyler Douglass ripped a one-out triple to the fence in right-center field, but he, too, was left on base.

In the seventh, Cowans worked a walk, went to second on a passed ball, took third on a wild pitch but went no further.

Despite the loss, Serrata was satisfied with his team’s effort, especially the pitching.

“I was thrilled that our [pitchers] did absolutely what we hoped,” Serrata said. “They showed they can pitch at this level.”