Serra baseball sophomore Sam Kretsch goes the distance under lights at Burlingame

“He’s a really composed young man for a sophomore,” Serra manager Chris Houle said of Kretsch, who was making his third varsity start. “So, when you have a big game in a big situation like this, it’s good to have someone out there like that.”

In front of a packed house at Washington Park, Kretsch rose to the occasion. And while the sophomore has traveled quite a bit in his young life — born in Palm Springs, he has also lived in San Diego, Kansas and Virginia — the first-year varsity pitcher now lives in Burlingame.

“It feels good,” Kretsch said of the atmosphere of Washington Park. “I feed off that energy. And once I see all my fellow Padres out there supporting me on the bump, it feels good. It feels really good.”

Serra (7-2) gave Kretsch an early lead, jumping on Burlingame starting pitcher Holden Glavin for three runs in the second inning. After an infield error to open the frame, Glavin dug himself a hole with a pair of one-out walks to load the bases.

The bottom of the Padres order then cashed in, as Lucas Schumaker and Kai Laxa tabbed back-to-back RBI singles before leadoff hitter Henry White lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Glavin went on to work five innings, surrendering an unearned run in the fourth when Schumaker scored on a double play. The junior left-hander — who entered the game with a 2-0 record after 12 scoreless innings of work to start the season — earned a good review from Panthers manager Shawn Scott.

“Even tonight he had the one rough inning … then after that he was fine,” Scott said. “That inning cost him a little bit more of the game because it was such a high pitch count. … And you saw what he did the next few innings, so I’m proud of him.”

Serra’s defense did well in support of Kretsch. Senior catcher Patrick Macy showed off his arm in the fourth inning. With one run in on an RBI single from Charlie Dohemann, and Panthers runners on first and second, Macy defended a double-steal attempt by shooting down the back runner at second base with an absolute laser beam.

“I didn’t even see it, but my catcher did, definitely,” Kretsch said. “Gunned him right there. He has one of the best arms in the WCAL.”

Then in the sixth inning, Serra turned in a splendid twin killing. With Dexter Quisol on first after a leadoff single, the Padres turned a not-exactly tailor-made double play, with shortstop Ben Cleary hustling a throw to second baseman Will Bowen, who unloaded a throw with Quisol breathing down his neck to turn it clean.

Serra totaled six knocks in the game and added an insurance run in the seventh. White led off the inning with a triple and score on a wild pitch from Burlingame reliever Ryan Kall.

The Padres have just two returning starters to their lineup in Kinney and Bowen. And after splitting their first two games of the week in a three-game stretch against Peninsula Athletic League opponents, the Padres found some rhythm up and down the order when it counted Friday.

“It’s still a work in progress,” Houle said. “We actually didn’t swing the bats well earlier this week … with Hillsdale and Carlmont. So, it was good to see the guys bounce back … with some timely hits in some big situations.”

Kretsch now improves his record to 2-0 after earning his first varsity win Feb. 25, when he went 6 2/3 innings in Serra’s 1-0 win against College Park-Pleasant Hill.

“From the first pitch I was locked in,” Kretsch said. “And once I saw my team have my back with all those hits, I knew I had to do my job.”

For Burlingame (5-2), the losing streak in annual head-to-head play with Serra dates back to 2012, when the Panthers famously won 1-0 on a walk-off squeeze play. Since then, the Padres have won seven straight. The two teams did not play in 2019 and ’20.