SAN JOSE — In baseball, one mistake can be the difference in a game.
So it was on Friday at Bellarmine College Prep. The home Bells were hosting St. Ignatius in a West Catholic Athletic League showdown in San Jose.
In the bottom of the second inning, Bellarmine had Nate Bateman on first when Dash Knight chopped a ground ball up the middle. The ball was misplayed in the middle infield, and the Bells suddenly had two runners on and no outs.
They took advantage with two more hits and a run-scoring double play, and that was all she wrote. Those two runs were all Bellarmine needed on a day of excellent pitching and defense, and the Bells beat SI 2-0.
“Whoever blinks first or makes the first mistake in these types of games usually ends up losing the game,” Bellarmine coach Nate Sutton said. “Especially in our league. It seems like the pitching is pretty dominant as a whole.”
It certainly was on Friday afternoon. Bellarmine combined for a shutout, as starter Apolo Lapiz pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings before giving way to Preston Pera, who shut the door with 2 1/3 frames of scoreless relief.
SI starter Chase Gordon was just as good, pitching a complete game with six innings of work and just one earned run allowed. It’s possible that he wouldn’t have allowed any without the error behind him in the field.
It was just that kind of afternoon. All it took was a little daylight in a game decided by a sliver.
“I thought our pitcher did a great job,” SI coach Brian Pollzzie said. “Chase was really efficient. They hit a couple balls, a couple bunts, and we didn’t make a play or two. I thought their pitcher did a great job. They’re a tough team.”
Gordon was SI’s best hope for a run-producing opportunity as well. He came to the plate in the top of the third with the bases loaded and roped a line drive to deep right-center field, but Bellarmine’s Luke McNeil put it away to end the threat.
Gordon came up with the bases loaded again in the fifth and lined out to Bells center fielder Evan Tavarez. It was that kind of night for SI, and another validating win for a Bellarmine team that has racked up some impressive results the past few weeks.
The Bells (10-7, 4-5 WCAL) started WCAL play 0-5 this year but have since won their last four against WCAL schools, including a 12-inning win over St. Francis and a sweep of Sacred Heart Cathedral.
“As long as we take the mistakes that we’ve made and learn from them, then we’re getting better,” Sutton said. “Those losses aren’t necessarily losses if we can get something out of it. Our goal is at the end of the year to be playing our best baseball. That was the messaging the whole time. Getting the first one out of the way, learning how to win.
“Especially last year, we didn’t have a great season. We’re learning how to win games this year. (St. Francis) was the turning point of our season, because they showed a little grit, a little fight, more than we have. They learned how to not back out.”
All is not lost for SI (8-5-2, 5-3 WCAL). The Wildcats will now get ready to travel to Sacramento for the Boras Classic, a prestigious tournament named for MLB super agent Scott Boras that pits some of the best prep teams in Northern California against each other.
“You’re gonna see good pitching, and we’ll definitely learn a lot about our team over the next week,” Pollizzie said. “We’re excited. We’re happy we got invited to that, and now we’re just trying to play as well as possible.”
