Bellarmine defeats St. Francis 1-0 again
Right place. Right time. With a giant smile and a hungry belly, Bellarmine baseball coach Mike Rodriguez couldn’t help but feel a little blessed after his team’s 1-0 West Catholic Athletic League win at St. Francis on Friday.
Wes Harper and Josh Mollerus combined on a three-hitter and catcher Mason Eng delivered a two-out run-scoring single in the third inning as the second-ranked Bells (18-3, 6-3) edges the Lancers (15-6, 5-4).
Seventh-ranked St. Francis got a splendid pitching performance from Ryan Jeffries, who allowed three hits in six innings.
“Food always tastes a little better after a hard-earned win,” Rodriguez said.
It was the second 1-0 win for the Bells over St. Francis this season. Harper threw a fourhitter at home in that one on March 16 and also drove in the game’s only run.
With a three-game week scheduled this week, Harper was probably going to pitch Tuesday against St. Ignatius. But the Wildcats were in the middle of a four-game suspension after players violated school policy, thus Rodriguez could redo his rotation.
“Everyone was rested, and we liked the matchup with Harper again,” he said. “We really fell into some luck there.”
With Harper tiring in the fourth, Rodriguez decided to give him one more inning, so he brought Mollerus in from left field and had him warm up a half-inning in the bullpen (high school rules allow players to re-enter once).
In Mollerus’ spot, Rodriguez inserted junior Matt Pinelli, who promptly made the play of the game.
Cooper Foard led off the fifth with a single, then took off for second on a hit-and-run as Justin Torres lined a ball toward the left-field corner. Pinelli made a diving, backhanded catch and doubled off Foard, who was halfway to third. Harper retired the next batter and Mollerus got out of a couple jams the following two innings to pick up the save.
“(Pinelli) saved the day,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not sure (Mollerus) gets to that ball. It was just one of those things.” More WCAL: Nick Lopez pitched a three-hitter to lift eighth-ranked Serra (14-5, 6-3) to a 2-0 win over visiting Riordan (7-13, 1-8) . ... Third-ranked Mitty (17-3, 7-2) got two runs in the fourth and two more in the sixth in a 4-1 win over visiting Sacred Heart Cathedral (10-10, 2-6), which takes on St. Ignatius (9-11-1, 2-7) to decide the Bruce-Mahoney Trophy on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at AT&T Park. St. Ignatius forfeited its fourth straight game Friday to Valley Christian (19-2-1, 7-2). #4 De La Salle-Concord 6, Granada-Livermore 3: Home runs by Chris Santiago and Trace Tammaro powered the visiting Spartans (14-3, 6-1 East Bay Athletic League) after they fell behind 3-1. The Matadors (13-5, 5-2) got a two-run double by Jake Crittenden and runscoring single from Noah Stewart to take the lead before Santiago hit a solo homer to make it 3-2 and Tammaro’s two-run blast put the Spartans up for good. Other games: Jordan Brandenburg drove in five runs with a two-run homer and three-run triple, lifting host CarlmontBelmont (10-9, 5-2 Peninsula Athletic League-Bay Division) to a 9-3 win over Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton (14-5, 5-2). … Ryan Fleming allowed just four hits through six innings and Nick Evans drove in two runs as Monte Vista-Danville (10-6, 5-2 EBAL) won 3-0 over Dublin (10-8, 2-5). … Cory Steinhauer went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and four RBIs, Sam Novitske added a double and triple and three RBIs, and Sam Zevanove had two doubles and three RBIs as fifth-ranked Foothill-Pleasanton (13-3, 5-2 EBAL) won 17-11 over visiting San Ramon Valley-Danville (8-7, 1-6).