Timko tosses no hitter

In his previous start, Serra junior pitcher Barry Timko was in a groove, allowing only one hit in a 3-1, complete-game victory over Sacred Heart Cathedral March 23. Tuesday, Timko was even better as he threw a no-hitter in the Padres' 10-1 win over Carlmont in the Knights of Columbus tournament. It's the second no-hitter of Timko's career, but first at the high school level. "I threw one once before with my travel team. This is much better. High school is a bigger stage," Timko said. "Probably about the fifth inning, it started creeping in (my mind)." It wasn't a traditional no-hitter: Carlmont did scratch out its only run on two walks, a groundout and a sacrifice fly, and the Padres' defense committed three errors behind him. But when Timko struck out pinch hitter Will Connors on three pitches to end the game -- Timko's eighth strikeout of the game on his 110th pitch -- the scoreboard said it all: There was a zero in the hits column. "He struggled early ... but he grinded," said Serra manager Craig Gianinno. "He was much better in the later innings." Timko's defense was there to pick him up when it was needed most. In the sixth inning, second baseman Chris Lewis dove at full stretch to his left with the end of his glove stopping Willie Baroncini's bid for a single to right field. Lewis then scrambled to his feet and threw Baroncini out at first base by an eyelash. In the seventh, Jake Mattman's flare to right appeared to be the first hit Timko would allow, but Serra right fielder Ray DeNardi came racing in and made a shoe-string catch. "Right off the bat, I was a little worried," Timko said of Mattman's bid to break up the no hitter. The turning point for Timko was a conversation he had with senior shortstop Luca Ponti. After allowing Carlmont's run in the third inning, Ponti basically told Timko to pound the strike zone and let his defense help carry the load. "It seemed like I was going through the motions (in the early innings)," Timko said. "And then Luca came over and fired me up." That was important, as far as Gianinno was concerned. He liked the fact Ponti took it upon himself to motivate his teammate, instead of waiting for the coaching staff to do it. "That's a great sign of leadership," Gianinno said. "You like to see that out of your players." Timko's cause was helped tremendously by the Serra offense, which jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead with a seven-run second inning. Serra (13-0 overall) sent 10 batters to the plate, but the Padres only managed four hits -- the big one a bases-clearing, three-run double from Matt Page, who was 2 for 2 in the inning -- as Carlmont (8-4) booted the ball three times in the inning. Carlmont pitcher Daniel Madigan was the victim of the botched balls, but all seven runs were unearned. "We haven't been ... making the routine play," said Carlmont manager Rich Vallero, whose team has dropped three in a row. "We've committed 12 errors in our last three games and we've scored five runs. "Granted, we're teeing it up with the best teams." Carlmont's last three losses have come to Santa Cruz, Bellarmine and now, Serra. "We're a Division I school and when we go to CCS, we'll have to play these types of teams," Vallero said. The Scots' chances took a big hit, however, when Madigan was forced to leave the game in the third inning after experiencing a significant amount of pain in his left pitching shoulder. The Carlmont relievers, however, did a good job of picking up the slack for Madigan. Bradley Levine allowed only two hits in 1 2/3 innings, while Christian Conte pitched a clean fifth. The Padres tagged Ronnie Freiermuth for three runs on three hits in the sixth, including a two-run single from Page that went fair past the first-base bag before diving off into foul territory. But the damage had already been done. "We capitalized on some mistakes they made ... and we strung together some timely hits," Gianinno said. "We were able to have some good at bats." Even though Serra is off to a fantastic start to the season under Gianinno and the Padres have beaten a number of quality teams, Gianinno is trying not to get caught up in the winning streak. With tournament games against St. Francis today and Bellarmine on Thursday, on top of the always brutal West Catholic Athletic League schedule, Gianinno is taking a pitch-by-pitch approach. "We just try to stay in the moment," Gianinno said. "I just try to challenge them (the team) every day." For Vallero and Carlmont, the last three games, as well as games against El Dorado Hills today and St. Francis Thursday, is a way to measure how good his team really is. "I'm using this week as a measuring stick to see where are. We need to get better," Vallero said. "This is the first time we've had to face adversity all year."