South City sophomore Giovanni Bernal fires perfect game

It was Martin who recorded the last putout of Thursday’s perfecto, as the third baseman hauled in a popup to the left side of the infield. It was one of just three balls Jefferson hit into play in the game. Of the 21 batters he faced, Bernal struck out a career-high 18.

“I was aware since like the third inning,” Bernal said. “Because last year I had 17 strikeouts against them, so I was trying to beat my record. … I was just trying to beat my strikeout record. I didn’t know it was going to get to where it was going to be at.”

Senior catcher Jacob Nabung was behind the plate for every pitch of both Martin’s and Bernal’s gems. Thursday’s perfect game forced Nabung into a new role, though, as he was asked to call the pitches, a duty usually reserved for pitching coach Brian Grey.

Grey was not in attendance, though, as he was travelling out of the state. Warriors manager Matt Schaukowitch was also not at the game, as he was called for jury duty. The only coach in attendance was South City bench coach Lincoln Chew, who served as interim manager in Schaukowitch’s absence.

“I told them I don’t have time to call pitches,” Chew said. “So, I left it to [Nabung] to call. … And I didn’t even see Gio shake him off at all. They were just in a rhythm.”

It was quite a day for Bernal and the South City offense as well. The Warriors (1-0 PAL Lake, 4-0 overall) totaled 26 hits, with every player recording a multi-hit performance. Owen Keith led the way with a 4-for-5 day with an RBI. Bernal, his younger brother Vince Bernal, Chris Govea and Mason Quintanilla were each credited with three hits.

South City’s most explosive inning came in the bottom of the sixth, with 16 batters getting to the plate amid a 10-run rally. It was this inning that posed the biggest threat to Giovanni Bernal’s perfect game, as the downtime threatened to affect his pitching rhythm.

The sophomore right-hander wasn’t even supposed to pitch that deep into the game. Chew was under instructions to limited Bernal to between three to five innings, he said.

“I was only supposed to go three to five (innings) on him, and he kept going, going,” Chew said. “It’s tough to break that up. … I guess I got caught up in the moment too.”

Bernal survived four 3-2 counts in the game. The first time was against Jefferson’s leadoff batter in the first before bouncing back to record the strikeout. Bernal struck out the first five batters he faced. He ran the count full again facing the leadoff batter in the seventh.

“To be honest, the last inning was the most difficult because I knew, and I had the [first] guy 3-2,” Bernal said, “and after that I was fine.”

Jefferson (0-1, 1-2) never got a ball out of the infield. The three balls batted into play included a low liner to Emilio Oseguera at shortstop, and a soft groundout to first baseman Mason Quintanilla. The final out was a popup to third base with Martin barely having to move. Oseguera circled behind him, but Martin called him off loudly and confidently to finish off South City’s second straight no-hitter.

“[Bernal] was just so on,” Chew said. “He hit 73% first pitch (strikes) to batters so he was always ahead of the count. And I guess 80% of his pitches were strikes.”