Being the underdog is a role that has suited the Serra well this season. So, it almost seemed like destiny when the Padres entered the Central Coast Section Open Division playoffs as the No. 8 seed out of eight teams.
After scoring a slew on regular-season upsets en route to a West Catholic Athletic League co-championship, Serra (23-8 overall) opened CCS play by taking down top-seed Willow Glen 4-1 Saturday at West Valley College in Saratoga.
If the Padres are going to fulfill their quest for the program’s first CCS title since 2009, they will have to score two more upsets.
“For us, I don’t think it really matters too much,” Serra manager Chris Houle said, “because you know you’re going to end up playing three good teams at some point.”
Serra advances to Tuesday’s semifinal round to face No. 4 Los Gatos at San Jose Municipal Stadium at 7 p.m. The winner will meet either No. 2 San Benito or No. 3 Valley Christian for the Open Division title Friday night.
The Padres rode some timely hitting and a complete-game victory by senior right-hander Mitchell Scott past Willow Glen (22-5). After scuffling with his control in recent weeks, Scott locked in to allow just four hits and two walks while striking out seven.
“He was much better,” Houle said. “And really just kind of used the whole width of the plate and up down and was hitting all his spots.”
The Padres got on the board in the top of the third against Willow Glen starting pitcher Davis Miller. After a walk and a hit batsman set the table, senior Ryan Sutter produced a sacrifice fly. Jack Damelio followed with an RBI single, staking Scott to a 2-0 lead.
Willow Glen answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, but its all the Rams would manage against Scott. Serra added two insurance runs in the fifth when J.J. Ota and Nick Lopez doubled back-to-back. Noah Marcelo followed with an RBI single to improve the lead to 4-1.
“We did a good job of hitting scoring position in both of those innings,” Houle said.
Scott battled through a two-out jam in the seventh. An infield hit and a walk allowed Willow Glen to bring the potential tying run to the plate. But Scott closed out the victory by inducing a grounder to second baseman Marek Palladino, who flipped to Ota at short for the force and the final out of the game.
Serra committed three errors in the game, though Houle said this was not indicative of the way his team played.
“No not at all,” Houle said. “We actually played good solid defense.”
With the win, Scott improves his record to 7-1. Serra totaled nine hits with two apiece from Damelio and Marcelo.
In the other CCS Open Division openers, Valley Christian took down No. 6 Sacred Heart Prep 8-0, San Benito defeated No. 7 Santa Cruz 2-1 and Los Gatos topped No. 5 Palo Alto 3-1.
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