SANTA CLARA — In what resembled a classic West Catholic Athletic League contest, top-seeded Archbishop Mitty advanced to the Central Coast Section Division II baseball championship game after a fast-paced 2-0 victory over No. 4 Serra.
The opening game of Thursday’s semifinals doubleheader at Washington Park took less than two hours to complete as runs proved hard to come by.
Mitty left-hander Luka Pintar was a big reason why. The sophomore used a mix of his fastball, change-up and slider to toss a three-hit shutout with one strikeout and three walks.
“I was able to throw everything in the zone and trust my defense,” Pintar said.
Run support for the Monarchs (20-10) came courtesy of a two-out RBI double from junior Danny Scudero in the bottom of the second, while Alijah Ramos was plunked with the bases juiced in the fourth frame.
But the biggest play came in the top of the sixth after Serra loaded the bases with two outs.
Scudero, a centerfielder, got a great jump on a line into the gap in left-center and fully stretched out for the game-saving diving catch.
“I just wanted to have Luka’s back,” Scudero said. “To catch that and see it hit my glove, you can’t explain it. It’s just an unreal feeling.”
While Serra closes its season at 14-15 overall, Mitty will play the winner of No. 3 Wilcox (21-9) and No. 7 Branham (20-8) in Saturday’s title game at Excite Ballpark in San Jose.
Source: www.mercurynews.com