It was set up as one of the most intriguing playoff games in recent history when No. 6 Serra met No. 3 Burlingame at Washington Park Saturday in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division II bracket.
The two longtime rivals had their annual non-league game under the lights at Washington Park rained out this season, so this was the first meeting of the year between the two when the stakes were infinitely higher.
The fans certainly felt it was something special as the stands were about three-quarters full and the fans down the left-field line went about three rows deep.
But if fans were late arriving, they missed Serra taking out a lot of the drama early. The Padres scored five runs in the top of the first inning against Burlingame ace Holden Glavin and added two more in the second on their way to a convincing 10-4 win.
“Just loved their aggressiveness early in the game,” Serra manager Chris Houle said. “That top of the first set the tone.”
With the win, Serra (16-11) advances to the semifinals and will face West Catholic Athletic League rival and second-seeded Bellarmine (18-12-1) at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Mission College in Santa Clara. The Bells shut out No. 7 Santa Cruz 4-0 in their first-round game.
When the Padres tacked on two more runs in the top of the second for a 7-0 lead, the thought of a 10-run, mercy-rule win crept into people’s heads. Given that Serra starter, sophomore Ian Josephson, held Burlingame (16-8) hitless through the first three innings, it was a credible thought.
Although Houle wasn’t sure.
“I couldn’t even remember if CCS did that (invoke the 10-run mercy rule),” Houle said. “We don’t do it in the WCAL.”
Serra took control of the game with five runs on three hits and a Panthers error in the first inning as the Padres sent 10 batters to the plate. Sam Rivas led off the game with an eight-pitch walk and Ben Cleary followed with an infield hit on a chopper behind the third-base bag. Jake Downing was hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Glavin got a strikeout for the first out of the inning, but Jim O’Brien came through with an RBI on a fielder’s choice when the Burlingame second baseman fielded the ball behind the bag, but slipped as he was gathering to throw. Downing won the race to second and the Padres led 1-0 with the bases still juiced.
Serra’s No. 6 hitter Joey Damelio came up and collected the first solid hit of the inning, driving a pitch into left field for a two-run single. Jackson Rhodes came through with a run-scoring single and Davis Minton made it 5-0 on a fielder’s choice. He hit a chopper to shortstop against a drawn-in infield and the throw to catcher Charlie Happ was in time. Happ swiped the tag on Damelio, but he could not hold on to the ball to complete the play and Damelio was safe.
“What we were trying to do was hit the ball through the middle,” Houle said. “We wanted them (the Burlingame defense) to make plays.”
The Panthers had their chance to answer in the bottom of the first, with Jackson Howard being hit by a pitch with one out and Will Robbins reaching on a fielder’s choice when the ball was thrown away at second in an attempt to get the lead runner.
But Josephson struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam.
The Padres then added on two more runs in the top of the second, with Josiah Rodriguez driving in a run with a single and second run scoring when O’Brien hit into a double play.
In his next at-bat, however, O’Brien was definitely credited with an RBI as he took a 3-1 pitch and deposited it over the ivy-covered wall in right-center field, to the left of 330-foot sign down the right-field line to put the Padres up 8-0.
“(Home runs over the wall at Washington Park) are rare,” Houle said.
Josephson, meanwhile, was cruising. He retired the Panthers in order in the second and third innings and took a no-hitter into the fourth before Burlingame finally got to him.
And the Panthers did so loudly. After Josephson had retired his ninth straight Burlingame batter to open the fourth, Lukas Habelt reached on an infield single off Josephson’s glove. If it got through cleanly, shortstop Ben Cleary gets him at first easily. But the ball was slowed just enough to allow Habelt to beat the throw.
There was no doubt during Dylan Philibosian’s at-bat. On the ninth pitch, he laced a run-scoring triple nearly to the wall in left field. Dylan Kall followed with an RBI double and Houle then went to his bullpen.
“[Josephson] was great. Got a little tired, though,” Houle said. “Just give us three or four innings and we’ll go to the next guy. We’ve had a couple instances of leaving a guy in too long (this season). That’s why you build a (pitching) staff.”
Kall ended up scoring on a wild pitch for the third run of the inning, but reliever Will Bordin got out of the inning without further damage.
Burlingame added a fourth run in the bottom of the fifth to close to 8-4 when Eric Gee doubled, stole third and then scored on a wild pitch and had runners on first and second with one out, but could not take advantage.
The Padres responded two more runs in the top of the sixth, with Rodriguez driving in both with a one-out single to end the scoring on the day.
“We’ve had to mix and match our lineups (because of injuries all season),” Houle said. “Guys started to step up. We made sure they know they’re competing all season long.”
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