Padres proving the real deal

Just the way Serra manager Chris Houle drew it up, right?

“I wish,” Houle said. “It’s the WCAL. This is the grind. It’s so difficult every week, week in and week out.”

Well, Serra (7-3 in WCAL, 15-5 overall) just capped a week like no other. Finishing up its two-game season series with each Valley Christian (No. 1 in the nation, according to MaxPreps.com) and Bellarmine (No. 7 nationally), Serra completed sweeps of both series.

The Padres knocked off first-place Valley Christian 3-0 last Tuesday behind a complete-game gem by senior right-hander Mitchell Scott. Then, after a 2-0 win over Riordan Friday — backed by a one-hit shutout by senior left-hander Nick Lopez — Serra turned to sophomore left-hander Drew Dowd to make his first varsity start Saturday against Bellarmine.

Dowd responded with 4 1/3 innings to earn the win as the Padres rode a five-run third inning to a 5-2 victory over the Bells (6-4, 18-4) at Frisella Field.

“It’s helpful knowing that you’ve got a number of arms you can count on and that you can rely on,” Houle said. “We’re obviously really, really high on [Dowd]. That’s why we brought him up here (to varsity). … If he’s going to pitch at the varsity level, let’s throw him into a big game. And he responded as best as you can. Just a great outing from him.”

The banner week wasn’t without its pitfalls. Following the Valley Christian game, Serra’s leading slugger, senior catcher Cameron Barstad, was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of the scaphoid bone in his left hand. He arrived at practice Wednesday with a cast over his wrist and thumb. It is questionable whether he will return to action this season.

So, Dowd’s first varsity start was left to senior backup catcher Zach Button, who Saturday made just his second varsity start behind the dish. And the Padres’ new battery got tested early when, in the first inning, Bellarmine had runners at the corners with no outs.

Bells No. 3 hitter Connor Henriques followed with a squeeze bunt attempt, challenging Dowd to make a play toward the first-base line. The lefty showed some catlike reflexes to get to the ball, shuffle a throw to Button and peg Bellarmine senior Matthew Kao at the plate for the game’s first out.

“The first inning you definitely want to calm the storm,” Dowd said. “And Zach did a great job of tagging him there.”

“It was a great play,” Houle said. “He’s an athlete. He knows what he’s doing on the mound. He knows how to pitch, and he knows how to play the position. And that makes such a big difference.”

Still, it was Dowd’s arm that allowed Serra to get out of the inning unscathed. The Bells went on to load the bases with one out. But the southpaw escaped, notching his first of five strikeouts, on three pitches, before inducing an inning-ending fly out to Noah Marcelo in right field.

“I knew early I didn’t have my best stuff,” Dowd said. “So, once I knew that, it was just about battling and seeing what they could do with it, and competing. I just wanted to focus on throwing strikes and executing each pitch.”

And the Serra bats got going in the third inning to relax the focus of their young hurler — the first sophomore to roster for Padres’ varsity squad in four years — by sending nine batters to the plate, and chasing Bellarmine starting pitcher Joe Ammirato in the process.

After a leadoff single by Marcelo, senior Brad Shimabuku bunted him to second. Senior Chris Fung singled to put runners at the corners. Then senior Jack Damelio — moving from the No. 2 spot to the No. 3 spot in the order in the absence of Barstad — got hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Nick Lopez and Ryan Sutter followed with consecutive RBI walks to get the Padres on the board. Then, after senior J.J. Ota greeted the Bellarmine bullpen with an RBI single, Button punctuated the rally with a booming two-run single off the short left-field wall to give Serra a 5-0 lead.

Dowd cruised into the fifth inning, but ran into trouble the third time through the Bells’ batting order. With one out in the fifth, Kao singled, followed by a Dustin Greenwood walk. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch before Henriques, swinging away this time, scorched a two-run single to center to end Dowd’s afternoon.

Serra turned to senior Ryan Sutter, who was recently converted to the bullpen due to a bout of shoulder tightness in March. The sturdy right-hander walked the first batter he faced but then set down the next five straight en route to his first save of the year.

Sutter had to overcome some adversity in the seventh when Kao reached to lead off the inning on a dropped fly ball in the outfield. Greenwood then got hit by a pitch to put two on with no outs, putting the potential tying run at the plate through the heart of the Bells’ batting order.

Sutter navigated the jam in dominant fashion, though, punching out Henriques with a called third-strike fastball, then dialing up a game-ending double play grounder to Fung at second base.

“It was funny … I was thinking I really need to get Fung a double play,” Sutter said. “I can trust him out there, he’s going to turn me a double play. And two pitches later I got him the groundball. So, it worked out as planned.”

With the win, the Padres have put the WCAL on notice they belong in the conversation with the nation’s elite. Not that those in the ranks of an exceptionally deep and talented Serra team feel they had to prove it.

“I don’t know about ‘something to prove,’” Sutter said. “One of our things was, we’re not going to come up short again (in the WCAL race). So, we came out to fight, especially against these best teams out there. … We’re good to compete against the tougher competition and we’re showing we were a little underrated, I would say.”