The Serra Padres are sitting pretty in the annual Boras Baseball Classic.
Rocco Zirelli
Opening play Monday with a doubleheader in the California North Classic at Army Depot Park, the Padres (10-4) scored four runs in their first at-bat to fuel right-hander Rocco Zirelli’s complete-game victory in a 6-1 win over Whitney-Rocklin. Serra then turned to ace right-hander Riley Lim for four hitless innings in a 2-1 win over Franklin-Elk Grove.
Riley Lim
By virtue of the doubleheader sweep, Serra earns an off day Tuesday before taking the field in the semifinal round of the 16-team tournament. St. Ignatius-SF is in a four-team pool, along with Los Gatos, Granite Bay and Liberty-Bakersfield, looking to survive a Tuesday doubleheader for the chance to play the Padres in Wednesday’s semifinal at 7 p.m.
Third baseman Brody Crudeli paced Serra through the two wins. The junior went 3 for 6 on the day, improving his season average to .308.
Serra jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of the tournament opener against junior right-hander Cooper Carleton, a UC Santa Barbara commit. Nate Hui led off working a nine-pitch at-bat for a walk, before Aaron Minton singled and William Walbridge got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jace Peavey grounded into a fielder’s choice to drive home Hui with the first run of the day. Jack Wessell followed with an RBI single. With runners on first and third, Peavey swiped home on a wheel steal. Then Aaron Maier reached on an infield error to score Wessel.
Whitney (6-6) got one run back in the second on an RBI double by junior Jordan Castellanos. Serra answered in the bottom of the frame, capitalizing on another walk by Hui. The senior advanced to third on an errant pickoff throw to first. Then an infield grounder from Minton drove him home. The Padres added one more run in the third. Peavey led off the frame with a single to center. After Wessell reached on catcher’s interference, a double steal set up Peavey to score on a passed ball.
Zirelli did the rest to earn the first win of his varsity career, setting down seven in a row at one point en route to going the distance. The sophomore allowed one unearned run on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts. His record improves to 1-1 with a 2.29 ERA.
In the doubleheader nightcap, Serra used two runs in the bottom of the fourth to reward Lim with the victory. The senior right-hander fired four hitless frames, walking five but striking out eight, upping his record to 4-0 with a 2.85 ERA. Franklin junior David Hernandez took the complete-game loss.
Peavey led off the fourth with a walk before a one-out single from junior Donovan Friedland put runners at the corners. Michael Ohman got the Padres on the board with an RBI single to right. An RBI groundout off the bat of Hui made it 2-0.
Franklin (10-2-1) got on the board in the sixth against the Serra bullpen on a two-out RBI single from junior Easton Fernald. But after a walk to senior Jason Harris to load the bases, senior reliever Antonio Sekelj notched a strikeout to escape the jam. The right-hander retired the side in order in the seventh to earn his second save of the year.
Advancing to the semifinals from the opposite side of the bracket was West Park-Roseville (16-1) with a 4-0 win over Benicia and an 8-6 win over Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills. Still alive for Tuesday’s elimination games to decide West Park’s semifinal opponent are St. Francis-Mountain View, St. Mary’s-Stockton, Bakersfield Christian and Pleasant Grove.
The tournament championship game is set for Thursday at 7 p.m.
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CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
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LittleFoot said:
This is great news.
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