The only misstep of the day led to an early trip to the showers for Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) pitcher Tyler Davis.
Dragging the infield following his team's 5-1 West Catholic Athletic League victory over visiting Serra (San Mateo, Calif.) on Friday, Davis stopped short when the sprinklers abruptly came on, sending a stream of water in his direction. Unable to back up the four-wheeler due to the rake on the back, Davis simply ducked his head and plowed through the refreshing water to finish his postgame chores.
The sprinklers were a perfect metaphor for Davis, who consistently found a way to cool off the Serra offense during Friday's showdown. Except for the first inning when Serra sent five batters to the plate and scored its only run, Davis never faced more than four batters in an inning while scattering seven hits and one walk to go with four strikeouts.
"He's just a tough kid," said longtime Mitty coach Bill Hutton. "He's got a brother who pitched at Stanford and is now in the Major Leagues, so Tyler has that baseball experience that he's picked up from his brother. He's a competitive kid and he was really efficient today, barely getting over 100 pitches. It's just fun to see two tough teams battle like these two teams did today because those are tough kids over in that dugout, too."
The victory is a crucial one for the Monarchs, who move back into a tie for first place with Serra at 7-2, just three days after dropping a 3-2 decision to Bellarmine.
"That's baseball. With those types of things you just have to flush it and forget about it," said Hutton about the Bellarmine loss. "If you can't forget about it, you are playing the wrong sport."
That being said, Hutton admitted he was pleased to see the Monarchs spot Davis three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
"It's a lot easier to play this game downhill," he said. "Baseball is a hard enough game so it's good for the pitcher to get a little breathing room. With those three runs, one little mistake isn't going to kill you."
The Padres, ranked No. 9 in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Rankings entering the game, got to Davis for one run in the first inning. Davis plunked leadoff batter Luca Ponti, who stole second to get into scoring position. A groundout to second base moved Ponti to third, but Davis looked like he had Kyle Ferris on a strikeout to end the inning. The umpire called the ball low and Ferris used the second chance to rip a ball up the middle, scoring Ponti for Serra's lone run.
"I was trying too hard to avoid contact rather than just hitting my spots," said Davis, who is now 6-0 on the season. "I got a lot more comfortable the rest of the game."
The Monarchs, ranked No. 10 in the Xcellent 25 National Rankings, gave Davis all the runs he would need in the bottom of the first. James Roberts reached first on an error to lead things off and Alex Silva ripped a double down the right field line to put runners on second and third base.
Brett Fuller cleared the bases with a looping drive to right-centerfield that looked to be a playable flyball, only to have it clear the fence for a 3-1 Mitty lead.
"Those three runs gave me a lot of confidence," said Davis. "I was able to use my defense more and it helped me relax knowing I had a lead."
No Serra runner got past first base the next five innings with Davis getting help from a 6-4-3 double play in the fifth to slow down a Serra rally that included two basehits.
Meanwhile, Mitty posted two more runs in the fifth inning in a rally that could have resulted in even more damage if not for a fine play by the Serra catcher.
Gordy Madej singled with one out and Roberts walked to put two runners on base. Silva sacrificed the two runners along for the second out and Serra intentionally walked Fuller to load the bases for Alex Balog.
After flying out his first two times at bat, the Mitty cleanup hitter smacked the first pitch he saw up the middle to score two runs.
The Monarchs had a chance to add more runs to the scoreboard, but a catch near the backstop on Stephen Meade's high foul pop-up ended the Mitty threat.
The defensive effort by Serra catcher PJ Mallery was the top play for the Padres who suffered through three errors on the day.
"All credit to Tyler because he was in a zone all day," said Serra coach Craig Gianinno. "They played a clean ballgame today and we just didn't catch the ball. They really capitalized on our mistakes."
Davis finished the seventh inning by getting his fourth strikeout and giving up his only walk, but Roberts vacuumed up a groundball at shortstop and threw out the runner for the final out of the game.
The win for Mitty (20-2) avenged an earlier loss to Serra in WCAL play.
"We really imploded defensively in that game and they were able to take advantage," said Hutton. "Sort of like what happened today."
Julian Merryweather took the loss for the Padres despite giving up just four hits through four and two-thirds innings. The loss was the first of the year for Merryweather (6-1).
Mitty, which played St. Ignatius on Saturday, heads into a tough week that includes St. Francis and Riordan, the only other team to defeat Serra this year. The Padres (19-2) faced Bellarmine on Saturday and will meet Sacred Heart Cathedral and Valley Christian this week.
