Sports
Powerhouse San Mateo Serra Padres Edge SRVHS Wolves
San Ramon Valley High varsity baseball plays a close game against top-ranked Serra High Saturday.
The final scoreboard at Danny Frisella Memorial Stadium in San Mateo looked like it was malfunctioning from the heat Saturday.
San Ramon Valley Wolves: 2 errors, 5 hits, 1 run.
Serra Padres: 0 errors, 1 hit, 2 runs.
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There were as many Padres hits as there were cracked windshields in the parking lot – courtesy of the earlier freshman game. Yet the Padres, a national prep powerhouse, emerged victorious by a score of 2-1.
For the previously undefeated Wolves varsity baseball team (now 4-1), it was no mirage.
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The Serra Padres (10-0), hailing from the town of San Mateo, have won the West Catholic Athletic League title seven of the last nine years and are the defending Central Coast Section champions. The alma mater of Barry Bonds is currently the state's second-ranked team, and No. 13 in the country on the Maxpreps.com "Xcellent 25" writers poll. The Maxpreps computerized rankings system has Serra No. 2 in the country.
Whether it's humans or computers doing the ranking, the consensus is that the perennially dominant Serra is pretty darn good.
The Wolves came into the game from Danville ranked ninth in the state, though they probably deserve to be higher, having outscored their first four opponents 58-3. That's not a mirage – or a typo – either.
On Saturday in San Mateo, Lefty junior John Hochstatter pitched a gem of a game but was saddled with the loss.
"Our kid John went out there and threw his butt off," said head coach Chris DeClercq. "He gave up one hit in six innings against a team that was mashing the ball all over the place. That shows what kind of pitcher he is and what kind of a team we are."
Hochstatter routinely threw three different pitches for strikes, breaking off his curveball in fastball counts while mixing in his 86-88 mph heat and a devastating changeup.
"He's in control of every at-bat," DeClercq said. "When you do hit a ball off him, it's usually a roll over, or he gets you off on your front foot. That's what he's done all year, and that's what he's going to continue to do all year. He's just a really, really good pitcher."
It was like a game of chicken between two freight trains on the same track. To win, one team would need to play seven innings of near-perfect ball, as only the slightest mistake could prove to be the penny on the tracks that derailed them.
"I think we should have won the game," said DeClercq. "I think they probably feel like we should have won the game as well. That's baseball. That's why it's fun."
Going into the bottom of the sixth, the 6'3" Hochstatter had yet to allow a hit. It could have been the mid-afternoon shadows starting to creep in, but the Wolves' 1-0 lead was looking much more like 10-0.
The inning started with Serra senior catcher PJ Mallery drawing a walk. He was only the third Padres' baserunner all day, their first since Hardeman reached on an error and was immediately picked off by his mound counterpart.
Mallery was replaced at first by senior speedster Don Andre Clark. The Padres nine hitter, junior Matt Page, placed a perfect bunt down the third base line and managed to beat it out for what proved to be the only Padres hit of the game. Clark proceeded to steal third, and scored on a ground-out to second by junior Andre Mercurio. A Ray Denardi ground ball past senior shortstop Cameron Cox, an error, gave the Padres their second run of the game and their first lead.
All it took was a walk, a bunt single, a groundout, an error and some divine intervention.
Now to the top of the seventh, as Padres senior pitcher Tyler Hardeman would have to get through the heart of the Wolves lineup to put the game away. In a nine-pitch battle, Hardeman got senior designated hitter Alex Palsha to fly out to center. Next he got senior cleanup hitter Craig Massoni to take an off-balance hack at a nasty changeup for strike three.
It was down to senior Donald Bedard. He had looked very comfortable at the plate all day, accounting for two of the Wolves' five hits. Bedard worked the count full before Hardeman managed to expand the zone a bit high, getting the benefit of a great frame-job by catcher Mallery. When the dust settled, the guy who'd hit Hardeman the hardest all day was left with his bat on his shoulder.
The Wolves' lone rally came in the top of the fifth. Massoni led off with a single to right, and Bedard moved him to second with another single. Junior Ryan Drobny, who had a hit earlier, drilled an RBI single to right, driving home Massoni, but Bedard was gunned down trying to go from first to third. Had he made it, he might have been able to score on the next play, junior Joe Love's groundout.
In close losses, there are always a lot of what-ifs and what-could-have-beens.
"I'm just real happy for the way these guys battled," DeClercq said. "I think they needed to see that they could play with one of the best teams – not only in the state, but in the country. Serra is definitely one of the best teams in the country, and based on how we did today, I think we need to be mentioned in that mix as well. We showed that we're a pretty good team, too."
Hardeman finished with 7 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 ER, 7K, W for Serra.
Hochstatter's final line was 6 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 5K, L for San Ramon Valley High.
The Wolves now turn their attention to the East Bay Athletic League opener at De La Salle High in Concord Wednedsay.
