SAN JOSE — Three days after upsetting top-seeded Valley Christian in an instant classic on Wednesday, Archbishop Mitty completed its section playoff run with a dominant 6-2 win over St. Ignatius in the Central Coast Section Division I title game on Saturday at Excite Ballpark.
The Monarchs captured their second Central Coast Section championship in three years.
“This was really special because of our journey,” said Mitty coach Brian Yocke. “There were so many ups and downs, and we just leaned into it. It’d be easy to say ‘it’s not our year,’ but these guys never felt that way. That all goes back to their DNA.”
Senior Nico Rodriguez totaled two hits, two runs and an RBI. Center fielder Tanner Kern had two hits, two RBIs and a triple.
“We’ve found our stride last week,” Rodriguez said. “It’s just been really fun to be a part of.”
The Monarchs starched St. Ignatius’ pitchers from the start of the game
Mitty put up two runs in the first inning and exploded for more in the second.
Rodriguez knocked in Grayson Munoz and Derek Allen to give the Monarchs a four-run advantage. Two at-bats later, Kern tripled to bring home Rodriguez and pushed the lead to five runs for Mitty.
By the end of the second inning, the San Jose school built up a 6-0 lead.
Mitty’s offense totaled eight hits in the first four innings and knocked out starting pitcher Will Siwinski after 1 ⅔ innings. Siwinski came into Saturday’s game having given up just one run in 13 starts.
“We trusted in our offense and we knew if we stuck to the approach that we were going to get hits,” Rodriguez said.
St. Ignatius found life in the fourth inning, scoring two runs to cut the Mitty lead to four. But that was the last time the San Francisco school found any success on offense.
Mitty pitcher Luka Pintar pitched all seven innings, striking out five and allowing five hits.
Pintar closed the seventh inning by retiring three straight batters.
“Pintar, he keeps you off balance,” said St. Ignatius coach Brian Pollzzie. “He’s got a fastball, curveball, cutter and changeup. He mixes it up and keeps guys off balance, especially with a lead.”
Coming off Wednesday’s win over Valley Christian, the Monarchs were riding high.
Valley Christian defeated Mitty twice this season and were the favorites to win the CCS title as the No. 1 seed. But the Monarchs’ gusty 7-5 win on Wednesday gave the San Jose school the confidence it needed to win the section final.
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“We knew if we could beat Valley Christian, we could beat anybody,” Rodriguez said. “We’re playing really good baseball now.”
Both teams will be awaiting to see who they will play in the CIF NorCal finals next week when the regional schedule releases on Sunday.
But for now, Yocke said he will try to enjoy this moment as long as he can.
“The best part is just seeing how happy these kids are,” he said.
