The Bellarmine Bells took the WCAL tournament championship with a 12-2 win over the Serra Padres. The Bells have allowed just three runs in the past three games, including a shutout of the high-powered St. Francis Lancers.
The Bells, who lost to Serra in the first round of last season’s WCAL tournament, rode southpaw Sam Fontane’s arm to an early lead.
After designated hitter Jack Thoreson batted in center fielder Joey Persons on a sacrifice fly to give the Bells a 1-0 lead in the first inning, Fontane gave up three hits but did not surrender a run.
“I have so much confidence in our defense and in our offense, that I didn’t need to do anything else,” said Fontane. “I just tried to throw strikes and let everything else take care of itself.”
Fontane had only started a few games this year, and spent most of his time coming out of the bullpen.
“He’s so durable that we’re able to utilize him in relief and still get him starts,” said Bellarmine coach Mike Rodriguez. “He throws a lot of strikes, he commands the zone well, and because of that, we started him the third game of the week and then brought him in as relief.”
From the first inning on, it was clear that things weren’t going Serra’s way. And in the second inning, the Bells did something they haven’t done often this season: score runs.
“The last three weeks, the bats have been coming alive,” said Rodriguez. “We’ve pitched really well all year, but it was tough to put runs on the board at different times during the year.”
The six-run onslaught started as a result of an error at third base that allowed left fielder Andrew Mallon to reach first. Second baseman Austin Hatfield hit a fly ball to deep center field, and then showed off his speed around the diamond as he notched an RBI triple.
First baseman James Gaffey scored Hatfield to make it 3-0. It seemed as if Serra pitcher Sean Watkins would get out of the inning with just the two runs allowed when third baseman Justin Calomeni grounded into a 4-3 double play, but he walked the next three batters before Dorrison knocked in Persons and right fielder Corby Punian with a single.
Watkins’ day on the mound was done after he walked shortstop Scotty Jarvis, and reliever Jordan Jauregui came in. He walked Mallon with the bases loaded to score Dorrison before finally getting out of the inning with a strikeout.
“That first inning, and the second inning [really hurt us],” said Serra center fielder Jordan Paroubeck. “They got the momentum, and they kind of kept it.”
Bellarmine added five runs in the fourth to put the game out of reach at 12-0.
The Padres finally got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when Paroubeck, Paul Murray, and Christian Conchi scored. However, that simply was not enough to get a run started.
"Nothing went our way," said Serra shortstop Mickey McDonald. "They outplayed us."
For Bellarmine, pitching has been their signature all season long.
“All of the guys that we’ve run out there have done an outstanding job. Our team ERA was a 1.74 for the year coming into today. They pounded the zone, they threw strikes with multiple pitches, and when you can do that, even the best hitters have a hard time,” said Rodriguez.
The start was a big one for Fontane, who won the most important game of his life and showed just how far he has come since last season.
“I didn’t play much last year,” said Fontane. “I really struggled commanding my pitches. My coach gave me a chance, and I was coming out of the bullpen a lot. I got a couple of chances to start, and then I got to start this game because we used our two guys in the first two games. It was awesome.”
The Padres are looking to get back on track for CCS. “
We have to get back after it. We’ll get back for CCS,” said McDonald.
