AT&T PARK — The stars aligned for Sacred Heart Cathedral on Saturday night. Martin Chavarria, fresh off of pitching six excellent innings, stood at the plate with the bases loaded and a chance to win the Bruce-Mahoney Trophy for the first time since 2012.
He never had to swing the bat.
Instead, a wild pitch scored pinch-runner Conner Gregorio and set off a wild celebration as the Fightin’ Irish clinched the tri-sport trophy with a 2-1 win over the rival St. Ignatius Wildcats in yet another thrilling edition of the oldest high school rivalry west of the Mississippi River.
Still, Chavarria was undoubtedly a huge part of the effort for Sacred Heart Cathedral (11-10, 3-6 WCAL). In his six-plus innings on the mound, the Pacific commit scattered just four hits and one walk.
“My goal as a pitcher isn’t to strike out as many guys as I can. It’s to stay in the game as long as possible,” he said. Chavarria, who said he stands at 5-foot-9 “on a good day,” struck out just four but got help from his defense, including two stellar first-inning catches by center fielder Keshawn Ogans.
“The sun was a little bit troubling,” said Ogans, “but I got good jumps on those balls and that helped me track them down.”
Ogans and the rest of the Irish defense helped keep St. Ignatius (9-12-1, 1-8) hitless until the third inning, at which time the Wildcats did get on the board first. Catcher Cole Constant doubled with one out, and a two-out double by leadoff hitter Dan Lawrence gave SI a 1-0 lead. Justin Williamson lined a single off of shortstop Marty Cole’s glove and into left field, but Danny Hinderliter threw a perfect strike home to nail Lawrence and keep it a one-run game.
That play proved to be huge, as Eric Casillas led off the bottom of the third with a double. Knowing it was going to be a low-scoring game, head coach Brian Morgan pinch-ran for Casillas with Stefan Suarez, who scored on Cole’s two-out single.
“That’s a hell of a baseball game,” said St. Ignatius head coach Matthew Stecher. “Great pitching on both sides and some fantastic defensive plays.”
As big as Hinderliter’s throw was for the Irish, SI was similarly excellent on defense, supporting starter Jack Dyke with double plays on line drives to third baseman Jack Thomson in each of the first two innings. Reliever Nick Miglio induced a 4-6-3 double play in the sixth to erase a hit-by-pitch.
Perhaps the biggest double play was the around-the-horn twin killing induced by SHC reliever Uday Narottam, who took over for Chavarria in the top of the seventh. Narrotam came in with a 2-0 count and went on to walk Matteo Cresci, but got Dyke to hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Matt Palomino.
That laid the stage for the bottom of the seventh, where Jack McDowell’s double down the line in right started the rally that would send the fabled trophy back to Ellis Street for the first time in six tears. Gregorio came on to run for McDowell, and Ogans delivered a bunt that was so beautifully placed that the Wildcats couldn’t even get the out at first. Cole was then intentionally walked to set up the force, and though Chavarria got behind 0-2 against Marvcus Guarin, he laid off the breaking ball that bounced in front of the plate, skipped to the backstop and sealed the victory for the Irish.
