SAN JOSE — They kept waiting and waiting for some offense to show up. That’s the way it’s been this season in the pitching-dominated West Catholic Athletic League.
Finally the big hit arrived for Valley Christian in the bottom of the fourth when Logan Mull ripped a bases-loaded double to right-center that knocked in all three runners.
Suddenly the Warriors had a lead and were able to breathe easier.
They added two more in the sixth to defeat St. Ignatius 5-1 and pull back into a tie for third place with the Wildcats, two games behind first-place Serra.
“I was just trying to hit the ball the other way,” Mull said. “I was determined. I really wanted to get our team ahead because we were down one. I just wanted to put some runs on the board.”
Runs had been hard to come by. The day before, Valley took a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh, only to see SI tie it and then win it with a run in the eighth. Valley, St. Ignatius and St. Francis, the three teams chasing Serra, along with fifth-place Bellarmine, all have team ERAs well below 2.00, in the 1.50 range.
“Everyone has more pitching,” Valley Christian coach John Diatte said. “Put the right guy in, get the out you need, and it just shrinks your ability to score runs. And then having to play in different environments. Playing in big fields with the wind blowing in, having to go up to the City with the wind blowing in. It’s just not conducive for hitting.”
Up 3-1, Mull led off the sixth with a single and scored on Jordan Ortiz’s double. Nathan Choi’s double plated Ortiz.
“Hitting is so contagious,” Diatte said. “And the confidence that comes with it.”
After a scoreless first three innings, St. Ignatius took the lead with a run in the top of the fourth on an error, and had the bases loaded with two out.
Diatte went to his bullpen and brought in left-hander Christopher Buck to pitch to SI standout Archer Horn, in a lefty vs. lefty matchup. Horn went into the game hitting .347 with six home runs. Buck got a strikeout to end the inning and went the rest of the way, retiring all 10 batters he faced with five strikeouts.
“I feel my stuff is more effective on lefties, more deceptive,” Buck said. “I like my slider, it rides away and they tend to swing at it. Also I’m very confident with my curveball.”
Spencer Guido pitched the first three innings for St. Ignatius and shut down the Warriors, allowing only one hit. But in three innings against the SI bullpen Valley scored five runs on seven hits.
Quentin Marsh doubled, singled and walked in three at-bats for Valley Christian (19-5-1, 8-4), which finishes up WCAL regular-season play with two games against Sacred Heart Cathedral. St. Ignatius (14-8-2, 8-4) has two games remaining with St. Francis.
