Serra Padres ousted in Saturday’s CCS baseball opener

Fox went the distance for his second complete-game shutout of the year, allowing seven hits and striking out six. It capped a perfect season for the junior with a 9-0 record in 10 starts.

“He threw the ball well,” Serra manager Chris Houle said. “He’s a pitcher that has a lot of movement on his ball and he just did a good job of keeping the ball down in the zone. We got runners on. We just couldn’t get anything going to push the runs across.”

Serra senior PK Walsh was 3 for 3 on the day, including setting the table with a single in the top of the fourth. With the game tied 0-0, Joey Lee singled with one out and Walsh followed with a hit to put runners at first and second. But Fox induced a double-play grounder off the bat of Pablo Ossio to retire the threat.

The Monarchs (23-4) took the lead in the bottom of the frame on a two-out single by sophomore Jarren Advincula. His tailing looper fell just over the glove of Serra second baseman Will Kinney. But the damage could have been worse as the Serra center fielder Lee got to the ball quickly and cut down the back runner, T.J. Hays, at home to end the inning.

“The guys were good (after that),” Houle said. “Obviously, we knew we were going to have to score at some point anyway, so just one run didn’t seem like a problem for them. The guys were fired up. They were in the game the whole day. … They fought till the end.”

But in the fifth inning, Mitty knocked Pires out of the game before jumping out to a 3-0 lead on a two-run single by sophomore Matteo Blandino. Two Monarchs reached prior to Pires departing. Right-hander Isaiah Crump came on in relief and walked the bases loaded before Blandino delivered a line drive single to center.

Pires took the loss, his first of the season, working 4 1/3 innings, yielding three runs on six hits while walking three and striking out one. His record falls to 3-1.

“He threw good,” Houle said. “He threw the ball well. There was not a lot of solid contact which is kind of his thing.”

Serra went down in order in the sixth and Fox finished off the shutout in the seventh, navigating through a one-out single by Walsh. The game ended on a strikeout of Kinney.

Walsh finishes the season with a team-best .408 batting average.

With the win, Mitty advances to the Division I semifinals Wednesday to face No. 5 Los Gatos. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Palo Alto will host No. 3 Valley Christian.

Division II

No. 5 Menlo-Atherton (18-5) was eliminated with an extra-inning loss, falling 5-4 in eight innings at No. 4 Leland (13-11). The Bears led 4-0 through three innings of play but Leland chipped away with one run in the fourth, two in the sixth and one more in the seventh to tie it. The Chargers walked off in the seventh. Matt MacLeod was 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs for M-A.

Leland advances to the Division II semifinals to host No. 8 Sequoia Wednesday at 4 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 San Benito hosts No. 3 Mountain View.

Division III

Aragon and Burlingame are set for showdown in the CCS Division III semifinals Wednesday in San Mateo.

No. 2 Aragon (17-7) will play host after the Dons shut out No. 7 Wilcox (9-8) by a score of 6-0 in Saturday’s postseason opener. Senior right-hander Junior Gudino fired a six-hit shutout, and senior Jace Jeremiah was 2 for 4 with four RBIs and a run scored.

No. 6 Burlingame (16-9) outlasted No. 3 Carmel 7-5. Taylor Kaufman when 2 for 4 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs, while Jacob Cilia also went yard for a solo home run. Carmel (19-8) rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh but senior Noah Larkin escaped a jam to close it out in relief. Senior right-hander Max Alvira earned the win, allowing three runs on seven hits through 6 1/3 innings to improve his record to 7-1.

Aragon hosts Burlingame Wednesday at 4 p.m. On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 Los Altos hosts No. 8 Santa Cruz.

Division IV

No. 5 Half Moon Bay (13-9) saw its season end with a 6-1 loss at No. 4 Willow Glen. The Cougars rode an eight-game winning streak into the postseason in Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division play. Willow Glen advances to Wednesday’s semifinal to take on No. 1 Palma at 4:30 p.m. In the other Division IV semifinal, No. 2 Christopher hosts No. 6 Leigh.

Division V

No. 5 King’s Academy (9-13) stormed into the CCS Division V semifinals with a dramatic 9-8 victory over Fremont (14-6). TKA rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh to win it. The Knights will host Wednesday’s semifinal against No. 8 Gilroy after Gilroy knocked off No. 1 Soledad 6-5. In the other semifinal, No. 2 Ann Sobrato hosts No. 3 Pacific Grove.

Division VI

No. 8 Design Tech (6-5) was eliminated with a 70 loss at No. 1 Stevenson (10-7). Nikhil Godbole collected two of Design Tech’s four hits against Stevenson starter Trent Toole, who recorded the complete-game shutout. Godbole took the loss, surrendering seven runs on seven hits through 3 1/3 innings.