SANTA CLARA - After five innings of scoreless baseball in the Central Coast Section Division III semifinals, The King's Academy broke through in the top of the sixth, doing all of its damage before a single out was recorded to register a 2-0 win over top-seeded Pacific Grove on Thursday evening.
Josh Algarin walked to lead off the inning, and advanced to second on Garrett Plata's infield single. After a balk advanced both runner, Algarin scored on Jeffrey Taylor's single to center field, for the first run of the game. Matt Wilson then walked to load the bases, which was followed by another walk to Caleb Charonnat to force in the second run of the game for the Knights. That led to a pitching change for Pacific Grove, bringing in freshman Brenden Moore, and the next three batters for TKA all struck out to end the threat, but not after the damage had been done.
Wilson allowed a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the sixth, but finished the game strong, retiring the final four hitters he faced, including back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh. He went the distance on the mound for the Knights, striking out nine and allowing just four hits.
The King's Academy will now face Monte Vista Christian on Saturday afternoon for the Division III title.
