South City, Pacifica Joe D ring in summertime with DH split

South City earned its first win of the summer season in Sunday’s opener 3-0, backed by the arms of right-handers Carlo Lopiccolo, Eric Casillas Jr. and Levi Stubbles. In the nightcap, Pacifica took the series with a 7-4 victory behind six strong innings from starting pitcher Nate Rumb.

This marks the first year Joe D has regimented weekly three-game series, with like opponents playing on consecutive days.

“I think it’s great,” South City manager Vince Lopiccolo said. “I like the setup being a three-game series. I think it works well for matchup purposes. … You try to match up your arms against what they have … so I think it’s a good setup for a three-game series. I like it.”

Pacifica took advantage of the rescheduled week, and a four-day layoff between games, by utilizing the same starting pitcher two games in a row. Right-hander Anthony Zamagni earned the win in last Tuesday’s opener, a 6-5 win at Terra Nova. He bounced back to take a hard-luck loss Sunday, allowing one run on three hits through four innings of work.

South City countered Sunday with right-hander Carlo Lopiccolo, who graduated from Burlingame High School last Thursday. After a graduation party Saturday night, the right-hander resumed where he left off for Burlingame this season — posting a 4-4 record with a 2.44 ERA — by firing four shutout innings against Pacifica to earn the win.

“He’s good,” South City’s Levi Stubbles said. “I’ve played against him my whole life. He pitched well today. I’m glad to have him.”

While Stubbles and Carlo Lopiccolo have long been opponents, they have never actually played together on the diamond. Now, though, they not only give the Rangers an intimidating one-two punch in the starting rotation, they provide plenty of defensive depth over the middle as they will alternate at shortstop when the other is pitching.

South City third baseman Uriel Prieto, whose defensive arm can rival both Stubbles’ and Carlo Lopiccolo’s, gives the Rangers added depth on the left side of the infield.

“A great combo to have,” Vince Lopiccolo said. “A pretty great combo … up the middle. Between Carlo, Levi and Uriel, we’ve pretty much got three shortstops.”

Stubbles was 3 for 5 through two games Sunday, while he and teammate Lorenzo Perez, South City’s cleanup hitter, were in the middle of three bases-loaded threats in Game 1. Perez got hit by a pitch in the first inning to load the bases with one out, but Zamagni pitched out of the jam with back-to-back strikeouts to keep the Rangers off the board.

“As an offense, we’ve got to get back up to speed,” Perez said, “because everyone has been off for a month.”

After allowing a run in the third inning, Zamagni pulled off another escape act. Following singles by Johnny Vasquez and Stubbles, with a sacrifice bunt by Matt Dayao in between, Perez drew a walk to load the bases. Casillas then wore a fastball square in the back to force home Vasquez with the game’s first run. Zamagni, though, bounced back by inducing a double-play grounder to end the inning.

“When [Zamagni] loses it, he always finds a way to come back,” Pacifica catcher Jeremy Keller said. “So, it all works out.”

After the right-hander departed, South City went on to score two runs in the fifth, with Perez lining an RBI single to left before Prieto later got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Casillas turned in two shutout innings for the Rangers and Stubbles emerged in the seventh to retire the side in order. Stubbles also worked two scoreless innings to finish out Game 2, allowing one hit while striking out four.

Rumb, though, was the story of Game 2 for Pacifica. The right-hander graduated from Terra Nova in 2017 and hasn’t seen a game mound since last year’s Joe D championship tournament. He’s spent the past year working but is attempting to get back into game shape in an attempt to walk on at Skyline College, according to Pacifica manager Bryan Powers.

“I think he can do it,” Powers said. “Every school needs a pitcher and he’s pretty darn good. … He just needs to decide if he’s going to stick with it.”

Rumb made a quick impression Sunday, striking out eight through six strong innings, including four straight punch-outs of the No. 4-7 spots the first time through South City’s order. And the Gamecocks offense gave him plenty of run support, scoring two in the first and three more in the second.

Keller was in the middle of both those rallies, tallying hits in each. The Pacifica cleanup hitter went 3 for 4 with a double in the game, and totaled four hits on the day.

Off to a 2-1 start, Pacifica figures to get stronger after its bye week next week. The Gamecocks have been without three of its big arms in Brett Karalius and Andrew Harkness.

“Once we get those two guys back, we’ll be in a pretty good spot,” Powers said.