During his freshman season, Serra pitcher Chuck Lofgren picked up a small piece of a tree branch he found laying on the ground and dubbed it "the magic stick," which he believed would help the Padres win games.
The freshman team went undefeated that season.
Four years later, Lofgren took "the magic stick" out of the Serra baseball office and brought it with him and the team to Santa Clara University's Buck Shaw Stadium. This time it was for the West Catholic Athletic League tournament championship game against Valley Christian Thursday night.
There must have been some magic left in that stick as the Padres pounded out 12 runs on 10 hits in a 12-4 pasting of Valley Christian to earn a portion of the WCAL title. St. Francis won the regular-season title.
In reality, Lofgren's pitching and the Padres continued offensive onslaught had more to do with their winning three straight tournament games than a sliver of wood. The Padres were also still flying high from their come-from-behind 14-13 win over St. Francis on Wednesday afternoon when they belted out 18 hits.
Lofgren had one of his best outings of the season against Valley Christian on Thursday night, pitching a complete game while limiting the Warriors to four runs on just four hits.
A more telling statistic, however, was Lofgren's strikeout-to-walk ratio. Lofgren struck out 11 Valley Christian batters while walking only two.
"I was throwing strikes. When I'm in trouble I'm throwing balls," Lofgren said. "It felt great. When I get in a groove it's hard to beat me."
Lofgren was working with a lead the entire game as Serra (21-8) scored in each of the first four innings. The Padres led 8-1 heading into the bottom of the third when the Warriors put together their biggest rally of the night. Lofgren walked the first two batters he faced before getting a strikeout.
He had an 0-2 count on Jeremy McChesney but Lofgren couldn't finish him off. McChesney tripled to the right-field gap to drive in both runners and cut the Serra lead to 8-3.
John Irby followed and stroked a two-strike single to drive in McChesney and the Warriors were back in the game, down 8-4.
"It looked like he lost a little feel for the curveball and he started getting his pitches up," said Serra manager Pete Jensen. "But he came back."
Lofgren would not be denied on this night. He retired 11 batters in a row, recording six strikeouts from the fourth inning on. He would have made it 12 for 12 if he didn't hit a Valley Christian pinch hitter with two down in the seventh.
"Chuck pitched one of his best games all year," Jensen said.
With Lofgren in control on the mound, the Serra offense picked up where it left off on Wednesday. The Padres put the pressure on Valley Christian right away. With one out in the first, Jon Finley and Lofgren had back-to-back singles and both moved up a base on a wild pitch. Chris Armanino came up and grounded out to shortstop, driving in Finley. Doug Hansen followed and singled to center, plating Lofgren for a 2-0 lead.
In the second, designated hitter Martin Riegos De Dios reached on an error and Anthony Stoloski singled. No. 9 hitter Jesse Lehane walked to load the bases and Giorgio Lavezzo picked up an RBI when he drew a walk on four straight balls, ending the night for Valley Christian starter Irby.
After a popup, Lofgren hit a squibber off the end of the bat. The Warriors' third baseman charged the ball and tried to get an out at the plate, but Stoloski's collision with the catcher popped the ball loose, enabling Lehane to score all the way from second when the ball went to the backstop.
Armanino followed and picked up his second RBI of the game on another groundout. For the game, Armanino went 0 for 3 yet he picked up three RBIs. He had a sacrifice fly to drive in another run in the fourth.
"They were throwing me curveballs," Armanino said. "And each time I had 0-2 counts on me. I was just trying to put the ball in play."
Everyone on in the Serra lineup used that same approach as nine different players scored a run and seven different players had at least one hit. Through the first three innings, the Padres had scored eight runs on only five hits, taking advantage of four Valley Christian errors in the process.
"You've got to get run production … and they don't have to be base hits," Jensen said. "We constantly talk about driving in runs. Just hit the ball hard."
The Padres will now head into the Central Coast Section tournament with a full head of steam. The seeding meeting is Saturday afternoon.
"Our confidence is boosted a 110 percent," Armanino said. "We're going to roll into CCS with our heads high."During his freshman season, Serra pitcher Chuck Lofgren picked up a small piece of a tree branch he found laying on the ground and dubbed it "the magic stick," which he believed would help the Padres win games.
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The freshman team went undefeated that season.
Four years later, Lofgren took "the magic stick" out of the Serra baseball office and brought it with him and the team to Santa Clara University's Buck Shaw Stadium. This time it was for the West Catholic Athletic League tournament championship game against Valley Christian Thursday night.
There must have been some magic left in that stick as the Padres pounded out 12 runs on 10 hits in a 12-4 pasting of Valley Christian to earn a portion of the WCAL title. St. Francis won the regular-season title.
In reality, Lofgren's pitching and the Padres continued offensive onslaught had more to do with their winning three straight tournament games than a sliver of wood. The Padres were also still flying high from their come-from-behind 14-13 win over St. Francis on Wednesday afternoon when they belted out 18 hits.
Lofgren had one of his best outings of the season against Valley Christian on Thursday night, pitching a complete game while limiting the Warriors to four runs on just four hits.
A more telling statistic, however, was Lofgren's strikeout-to-walk ratio. Lofgren struck out 11 Valley Christian batters while walking only two.
"I was throwing strikes. When I'm in trouble I'm throwing balls," Lofgren said. "It felt great. When I get in a groove it's hard to beat me."
Lofgren was working with a lead the entire game as Serra (21-8) scored in each of the first four innings. The Padres led 8-1 heading into the bottom of the third when the Warriors put together their biggest rally of the night. Lofgren walked the first two batters he faced before getting a strikeout.
He had an 0-2 count on Jeremy McChesney but Lofgren couldn't finish him off. McChesney tripled to the right-field gap to drive in both runners and cut the Serra lead to 8-3.
John Irby followed and stroked a two-strike single to drive in McChesney and the Warriors were back in the game, down 8-4.
"It looked like he lost a little feel for the curveball and he started getting his pitches up," said Serra manager Pete Jensen. "But he came back."
Lofgren would not be denied on this night. He retired 11 batters in a row, recording six strikeouts from the fourth inning on. He would have made it 12 for 12 if he didn't hit a Valley Christian pinch hitter with two down in the seventh.
"Chuck pitched one of his best games all year," Jensen said.
With Lofgren in control on the mound, the Serra offense picked up where it left off on Wednesday. The Padres put the pressure on Valley Christian right away. With one out in the first, Jon Finley and Lofgren had back-to-back singles and both moved up a base on a wild pitch. Chris Armanino came up and grounded out to shortstop, driving in Finley. Doug Hansen followed and singled to center, plating Lofgren for a 2-0 lead.
In the second, designated hitter Martin Riegos De Dios reached on an error and Anthony Stoloski singled. No. 9 hitter Jesse Lehane walked to load the bases and Giorgio Lavezzo picked up an RBI when he drew a walk on four straight balls, ending the night for Valley Christian starter Irby.
After a popup, Lofgren hit a squibber off the end of the bat. The Warriors' third baseman charged the ball and tried to get an out at the plate, but Stoloski's collision with the catcher popped the ball loose, enabling Lehane to score all the way from second when the ball went to the backstop.
Armanino followed and picked up his second RBI of the game on another groundout. For the game, Armanino went 0 for 3 yet he picked up three RBIs. He had a sacrifice fly to drive in another run in the fourth.
"They were throwing me curveballs," Armanino said. "And each time I had 0-2 counts on me. I was just trying to put the ball in play."
Everyone on in the Serra lineup used that same approach as nine different players scored a run and seven different players had at least one hit. Through the first three innings, the Padres had scored eight runs on only five hits, taking advantage of four Valley Christian errors in the process.
"You've got to get run production … and they don't have to be base hits," Jensen said. "We constantly talk about driving in runs. Just hit the ball hard."
The Padres will now head into the Central Coast Section tournament with a full head of steam. The seeding meeting is Saturday afternoon.
"Our confidence is boosted a 110 percent," Armanino said. "We're going to roll into CCS with our heads high."
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