Season Over

May 26, 2010
Serra took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning in the CCS Division I Baseball Semi-Final but fell to Mitty 9-2.  The Padres scored their first run on a walk to Andre Mercurio.  Luca Ponti's sacrifice bunt move Mercurio the second.  Next Sean McMillan grounded out to first, moving Mercurio to third who then scored on a wild pitch.  The Padres didn't record a hit until the top of the seventh inning when three singles by Kyle Ferris, Matt Page and Tyler Hardeman scored the Padres second run.  The Padre hitters were able to get the bat on the ball during the game but it was one of those games were the ball was driven right at the Monarch defenders. 

Padres To Semi-Finals

May 22, 2010
Julian Merryweather pitched a four hit complete game as Serra defeated Gilroy High School 6-1 in the quarter-finals of the CCS Division I Baseball Playoffs on Saturday.  Merryweather gave up one run in the first inning but his teammates quickley erased the defecit in the bottom half scoring two runs.  Andre Mercurio walked to lead off the first and Luca Ponti also got a free pass.  Matt Page delivered the key hit driving in both runners.  Serra added three more runs in the third inning with Sean McMillan driving in a run with a sacrifice fly and Kyle Ferris did the same. Tyler Hardeman then drove in the third run of the inning with his hit.  The Padres scored their final run of day on Hardeman's second RBI of the day driving in Matt Page.  Merryweather pitched a brilliant game.  Twice the Mustangs had runners on second and third and Mearrywether shut down the threat.

Serra plays on Wednesday at San Jose Municipal Stadium against the winner of the Archbiship Mitty vs. Salinas game being played later today.

 Link to game pictures.            Link to CCS bracket.

Baseball Advances

May 19, 2010
Serra hosted Silver Creek High School of San Jose in the first round of the CCS Division I Baseball Playoffs on Wednesday and took home a 12-2 win in five innings.  The Padres led 5-2 going into the bottom of the fifth inning and exploded for seven runs which invoked the ten run rule and gave Serra the game shortened win.  Kyle Ferris and Matt Page combined for the last three runs of the game with Ferris hitting a deep drive into the left field fence scoring two runs and Page singled against a drawn in infield scoring the decisive tenth run.  Serra's offense was paced by Tyler Hardeman with two hits, Sean McMillan, two hits and Matt Page with two hits.  DonAndre' Clark, McMillan and Page all drove in two runs each with Kyle Ferris bringing in three.  Hardeman roped two doubles and Ferris added one.  Barry Timko pitched a four hitter picking up the win. 

Serra Comes Up Short

May 13th
Serra and Archbiship Mitty battled back and forth but in the end it was the Monarchs who prevailed 8-5.  Serra took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.  Mitty scored solo runs in the second and third to cut the lead to 3-2.  The Padres built the lead back up in the fourth scoring two runs for a 5-2 lead.  Mistakes from that point on proved costly for the Padres as Mitty was able to capitalize on them securing the win.

Serra now awaits the CCS seeding meeting on Saturday.

Comeback Downs The Bells

May 12, 2010
Trailing 3-1 going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Padres mounted a comeback and scored three runs to take a 4-3 lead going into the seventh and picked up the WCAL Semi-Final Playoff win over Bellarmine at Santa Clara's Schott Stadium on Wednesday night.  Serra was able to tie the score taking advantage of a wild pitch and a walk.  With the bases loaded and one out, PJ Mallery hit a grounder to deep short stop to drive in the go ahead run for the Padres.  Dario Bartolotto, who came in in relief of Julian Merryweather in the fifth, was able to get the first two Bellarmine batters out in the top of the seventh.  The Bells didn't go down easy and quickly put two runners on at first and second.  Luca Ponti then made the game saving play.  A ground ball was hit to short stop and it looked as if the Bellarmine runner was going to beat it out at first.  As that part of the action was unfolding, the Bellarmine runner who was on second had advanced to third and anticipating a throw to first was given the green light to head for home.  Ponti made a quick adjustment and rifled the ball to home plate where catcher PJ Mallery applied the tag and the third out to end the game.

Serra advances to tomorrow's championship game and will play Archbishop Mitty at Santa Clara's Steve Schott Stadium.  First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Baseball Downs The Irish

May 11, 2010
The Padres left no doubt that they were ready to play on Tuesday as they took the field for the first round of the WCAL Baseball Playoffs.  Barry Timko set the Irish down in order and Serra jumped to a 1-0 lead on Sean McMillan's RBI.  Serra rang up four runs in the second inning and added two more in the fourth.  Timko kept the Irish hitless until the fifth inning when the SHC hitters finally broke through.  Timko made the big pitches the rest of the way in going the distance.  McMillan (2), Matt Page (2), Andre Mercurio (2) and Tyler Hardeman (2) paced the Padres with multiple hits.

Serra advances to the semi-finals tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. at Steve Schott Stadium on the campus of the University of Santa Clara and will play the winner of St. Francis vs. St. Ignatius.

Playoffs Next For Baseball

May 7, 2010
Serra held St. Francis in check until the sixth inning but still came up on the short end of a 2-0 score in the season finale on the road Friday afternoon.  The Padres managed four hits in the game led by Andre Mercurio but could not put together the key hits to get runs accross the plate.  Serra ends up in third place in the final WCAL round robin standings and will host a first round WCAL Playoff contest on Tuesday.  As per WCAL policy admission will be charged, Adults $7.00, Senior Citizens $3.00 and HS Students $3.00.

The Serra JV and Frosh teams ended their seasons with wins over St. Francis and each gained a share of the WCAL Title.  The JV's took home a 2-1 win with the freshman edging the Lancers 5-4. 

Padres Down Riordan

May 4, 2010
Prior to Tuesday's final regular season home baseball game against Archbishop Riordan, Serra honored the seniors and their parents.  The emotion of the afternoon's ceremonies carried over into the game as the Padres cranked out fifteen hits on their way to a 14-2 win over the Crusaders.  Serra wasted no time in taking charge of the game.  Barry Timko shut out Riordan in the first and Serra's bats gave him all the support he would need by scoring six runs in the bottom of the inning.  Andre Mercurio was four for four with three RBI's and Sean McMillan three for five with four RBI's.  PJ Mallery ripped two doubles off the fence in left center to pace the offense.  Barry Timko improved his record to 4-2 in the WCAL and 6-2 overall.  The win kept Serra in second place in the WCAL.  Serra closes out the regular season on Friday by traveling to St. Francis.

Padres End Slide

April 30, 2010
Serra's baseball team limped into San Jose to face Valley Christian in a crucial WCAL contest and came home with a hard fought 7-5 victory.  The Padres have been riddled with injuries the past couple of weeks and needed everyone to step up.  The Padre offense produced ten hits with Cole Strombom ripping a triple, Andre Mercurio, Tyler Hardeman and  Austin March contributed doubles while Sean McMillan, Mercurio and Hardeman all had multiple RBI's.  Dario Bartolotto pitiched seven complete innings picking up the win.  Serra returns home next Tuesday to play Archbishop Riordan in the final regular home game of the season and closes out league play at St. Francis on Friday.

Bats Silenced

April 27, 2010
The Padre bats were silenced on Tuesday at Danny Frisella Stadium as Serra fell to Sacred Heart Cathedral 8-2.  Serra has been hit with several key injuries with four starters being sidelined.  Still it was four errors and the in ability to get the key hit that sent the Padres to the loss.  Serra was only able to get four hits and managed to only have multiple runners on base twice in the game.  Cole Strombom drove in both of Serra's runs, one of them coming off a solo shot over the left field fence.

Baseball Comes Up Short

April 24, 2010
The Padre baseball team came up on the short end of a 3-2 score against Bellarmine at Danny Frisella Field on Saturday.  Once again the Padres out hit their opponents but were unable find the hole  in the defense and deliver the key blow.  The loss dropped the Padres into a tie  for  second place with four games to play.

Padres Tripped Up In San Jose

April 23, 2010
Serra out hit Archbishop Mitty but  couldn't produce  more than one run in the game and lost 5-1 in San Jose on Friday.  The Padres didn't help  their cause with three errors.  Sean McMillan and Julian Merryweather each had multiple hits for Serra to pace the offense. 

Cats Tamed

April 20, 2010
Rain and field conditions forced Serra to move their baseball game against St. Ignatius to the College of San Mateo but it didn't have any effect on Serra's bats as the Padres pounded out 17 on their way to a 16-6 win.  Serra spotted the Wildcats two runs in the firs, both of which were unearned, and then scored six of their own in the bottom half and never looked back.  The Padres scored at least one run in each inning.  Tyler Hardeman went deep to left field on his way to a three RBI outing and was joined by Kyle Ferris with three RBI's and Chris Lewis with two.  Austin March ripped a triple for Serra driving in two runs.  Barry Timko picked up the win with Matt Nichol and James Uroz coming in for relief.

Lancers Go Down

April 16, 2010
Danny Frisella Memorial Stadium was the site of the showdown for first place between the Padres and St. Francis on Friday afternoon and Serra delivered the goods with an 8-6 victory knocking the Lancers out of a three way tie for first place.  Serra is now tied with Mitty for first place in the WCAL after the first round of play.  The Padres jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Kyle Ferris' two run homer.  Starting pitcher Julian Merryweather delivered a two run single in the second to help his own cause in building a 4-0 lead.  The Padres tacked on three more in the fourth and an insurance run in the sixth.  Tyler Hardeman also contributed two RBI's drawing a bases loaded walk and a sacrifice fly.  Merryweather picked up the win while improving to 7-0 on the season and 3-0 in the WCAL.  Dario Bartolotto came picked up the save.  "I was proud to see these kids bounce back after Tuesday and show a lot of character out there today," stated head coach Craig Gianinno.

Serra begins the second round of league play next Tuesday when they host St. Ignatius with the first pitch scheduled for 3:30.

Streak Ends In the City

April 13, 2010
The Padre baseball team could only manage three hits and came up on the short end of a 5-4 score against Archbishop Riordan in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon.  Adnre Mercurio homered and Luca Ponti had two hits to account for the Padre offense.  Serra will host St. Francis on Friday at Danny Frisella Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 3:30.

Baseball Ties Record

April 10, 2010
The Padre baseball team has enjoyed great success on the road this year and Saturday night was no exception as Serra defeated St. Mary's 8-3 in Stockton to extend their record to 17-0 and tie them for the school record with the 1985 team for the most consecutive wins in a season.  Tyler Hardeman pitched a complete game for Serra scattering seven hits and allowing only three runs spread out over the seven innings.  Andre Mercurio doubled and drove in two runs and Luca Ponti contributed a double.  Hardeman helped his cause with two RBI's and also received offensive support from PJ Mallery who had multiple hits and RBI's.

Serra returns to WCAL action on Tuesday as they travel to San Francisco for a game against Archbishop Riordan and then host St. Francis on Friday.  First pitch for both games is 3:30.

Serra Tames The Panthers

April 9, 2010
The trip up US 101 was a successful one for the Padres as they defeated Burlingame 6-3.  Julian Merryweather pitched a complete game limiting the Panthers to just five hits.  Matt Page drove in two runs and Andre Mercurio and Ray DeNardi each had multiple hits to supply the offensive power for the Padres.  Serra improved their record to 16-0.

Padres Power Past SHP

April 7, 2010
Serra unloaded the long ball in a 12-1 win over Sacred Heart Prep on  Wednesday afternoon at Frisella Stadium.  The game was a make up from a previous meeting that was called in the bottom of the third with Serra holding a commanding lead.  According to NFHS rules, the game was called a "No Game" and had to start a new.  Sean McMillan went deep and Matt Page added a triple as the Padres pounded out twelve hits giving starting pitcher Barry Timko  plenty of support.  Timko was masterful on the mound allowing only one run by the Gators.  The Padres increased their record to 15-0 on the season.

Padres Down Santa Cruz

April 1, 2010
The Padres closed out the Serra/Knights of Colombus Spring Classic with a 3-2 win over Santa Cruz boosting their recored to 14-0.  The game was a change in the original schedule becuase of a conflict with Santa Cruz's travel restraints.  Tyler Hardeman picked up his third win of the year against no losses.  Offensively the Padres were paced by Andre Mercurio and Cole Strombom.

Timko No Hits Scots

March 30, 2010
Serra's pitcher Barry Timko no hit the Carlmont Scots in the Serra/Knights of Columbus Spring Classic on Tuesday afternoon as the Padres scored a 10-1 victory.  The Scots run was unearned and came on a walk and an error.  The Padres gave Timko all the offensive support he would need in the second inning as they scored seven runs to take a 7-0 lead.  Serra added three more in the sixth inning.  Matt Page paced Serra with three hits and five RBI's.  DonAndre Clark, Page and Kyle Ferris all doubled for Serra.

Baseball Rallies For Win

March 29, 2010
Serra trailed 8-2 going into the bottom of the fourth inning agains El Camino High School in the opening game of the Serra/Knights of Columbus Spring Classic and rallied for a 14-8 win.  The Padres chipped away at the deficit with three runs in the bottom of the fourth cutting the lead lead to 8-5 and then exploded for five runs in the in the fifth and four in the sixth to close out the comeback and the twelfth straight win of the season.  Serra had seventeen hits on the rainy afternoon with doubles by Ray DeNardi, Julian Merryweather (2), and Tyler Hardeman.  Multiple RBI's by DeNardi (3), PJ Mallery (3) and Luca Ponti (2) paced the offense.  Several Serra batters had multiple hits on the afternoon inlcuding DonAndre' Clark (2), Mallery (3), Hardeman (3), Merryweather (2), DeNardi (3) and Matt Page (2).  The winning pitcher was Ryan Strombom with Dario Bortolotto picking up the save.  Starting pitcher James Uroz pitched the first three innings.

Padres Overcome Tough Lefty

March 27, 2010

The Padre baseball team returned to action Saturday in a non-league match-up, hosting the Wolves of San Ramon Valley High School.  San Ramon's left-handed pitcher Josh Hochstatlar was as good as anyone Serra has faced all year, not allowing a baserunner through the first 4 innings.  Senior Tyler Hardeman was equally impressive (7 K's, CG, 5 H), breezing through the first 4 innings without allowing a run.  San Ramon struck for a run in the top of the 5th inning to take the 1-0 lead.  Senior PJ Mallery drew a walk to lead off the bottom of the sixth for the Padres.  With pinch-runner DonAndre Clark moving, Matt Page laid down a perfect bunt that went for an infield hit.  Clark advanced to 3rd on a wild pitch and Page later stole second.  Andre Mercurio was the batter with runners on 2nd and 3rd and none out in the inning.  Mercruio hit a fielder's choice grounder up the middle that plated the tying run.  The next batter flyed out, and Ray DeNardi stepped to the plate with two down.  DeNardi's grounder was misplayed and the winning run was scored.  Hardeman went the distance for the complete game victory.  Up next for the Padres will be the 1st round of the Serra Knights of Columbus Spring Classic.  Serra will face the El Camino Colts in the first game of the tournamnet on March 29th at 3:30 pm.

Pitching Keys Victory

March 26, 2010
Julian Merryweather picked up his second WCAL win by pitching a three hit master piece in a 5-2 win over Valley Christian on Friday afternoon at Danny Frisella Stadium.  The Padres increased their record to 5-0 in WCAL play and 10-0 overall.  Merryweather didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning and had the Warrior hitters off balance all afternoon.  The Padres gave him all the support he needed in the second and third innings scoring two runs in each by taking advantage of Valley's mistakes.  Chris Lewis' hustle down to first base in the second inning resulted in him being called safe as the throw pulled the defender off the base with the bases loaded and scoring Serra's first run of the game.  Andre Mercurio then walked with the based loaded for the second run of the inning.  Ray DeNardi's solo shot over the right field fence in the third increased the lead to 3-0 and Cole Strombom's hard grounder to short stop with runners on second and third was mishandled scoring the second run of the inning.  Strombom came through with an insurance RBI for Serra in the fifth with a two out single to left. 

Padres Win Pitchers Duel

March 23, 2010

The Padre baseball team was back in action on Tuesday with a trip to San Francisco to take on the Fightin' Irish of Sacred Heart Cathedral.  Junior LHP Barry Timko (2-0) was brilliant on the hill for the Padres, allowing only one hit while notching the complete game victory.  The Irish took the early lead on an unearned run in the bottom of the 1st.  Serra answered with a run of their own in the top of the 2nd.  The game went scoreless until the top of the 7th.  The Padres loaded the bases and Chris Lewis' squeeze bunt brought home the winning run.  Andre Mercurio followed with an RBI single to add the insurance run.  Mercurio, Kyle Ferris and PJ Mallery all had two hits for Serra.  The win puts the Padres mark at 9-0 (4-0 WCAL) heading into Friday's home game against Valley Christian.  First pitch is set for 3:30 pm.

Padres Ring The Bells

March 20, 2010
Serra exploded for eight runs in the fourth inning as they remained undefeated in WCAL play with a 10-4 win over Bellarmine in San Jose on Saturday.  The Padres' hot bats accounted for fourteen hits in the game including two homers with Andre Mercurio's three run dinger in the fourth extending the lead to a comfortable margin of 7-2.  Tyler Hardeman pitched a complete game for Serra picking up his first win of the season.  Multiple hits were by Sean McMillan (3), Andre Mercurio (2), Ray DeNardi (2), Tyler Hardeman (2) and Kyle Ferris (2).  Luca Ponti drilled a two run homer and Hardeman (2) and Mercurio also had multiple RBI's.  Matt Page, Kyle Strombom and Hardeman recorded doubles for the Padres.

Baseball Unloads On Mitty

March 19, 2010
The Serra baseball team faced the #5  State ranked team and #12 Nationally ranked team Archbiship Mitty on Friday at Danny Frisella Stadium and pound them for fourteen hits on the way to a 11-6 WCAL win in the league home opener.  Serra took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning but Mitty bounced back in the fourth scoring three runs and took a 5-4 lead in the fifth.  Serra would not be denied as they rallied in the bottom of the fifth for three of their own and added four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.  Ray DeNardi double with the bases loaded scored two of the runs and opened the flood gates as the Padres put the game away.  Julian Merryweather pitched five strong innings picking up the win and Dario Bartolotto finished the sixth and seventh.  Multiple hits for the Padres came from Luca Ponti (2), Ray DeNardi (3), Sean McMillan (3), Kyle Ferris (2), Tyler Hardeman (2) and PJ Mallery (2).  Hardeman (3), DeNardi (3) and McMillan (3) paced the Serra attack in the RBI category.  "It was a great team effort," stated Coach Gianino.  "We had some great at bats and came through with some clutch hits with two strike counts and two out situations.  I was proud of the way our team competed today."

This was a key win for the Padres as the opening week in the WCAL schedule this year is a three game week.  The Padres are now 2-0 and travel to Bellarmine tomorrow to close out the first week of league play.  First pitch is scheduled for noon.

Padres Pound The Cats

March 16, 2010
Trailing 5-0 at the end of the first inning to St. Ignatius, Serra unleashed its power scoring twenty four runs on twenty seven hits on their way to a 24-10 WCAL opening day win at Marchbanks.  Serra broke the game wide open in the third and fourth innings scoring six and seven runs respectively.  Chris Lewis, Andre Mercurio and Tyler Hardeman provided the long ball for the Padres.  Mercurio, Cole Strombom, Luca Ponti, Sean McMillan, Lewis, PJ Mallery and Hardeman all had multiple hits.  Barry Timko was the winning pitcher with Dario Bortolotto (4,5), Ryan Strombom (6) and James Uroz (7) pitching in relief.  The Padres move to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the WCAL.

Baseball Powers Past DLS

March 13, 2010
The Padres unleashed the long ball on their way to a 8-3 win over DeLaSalle in Concord on Saturday as Julian Merryweather picked up the win.  Ray DeNardi, Kyle Ferris and Cole Strombom all went deep for Serra and had multiple RBI's on the afternoon in pacing the Serra offense.  Merryweather pitched five innings with Dario Bortolotto taking over with no outs and two on in the sixth inning.  Bortolotto induced a ground ball that the Serra defense turned into a triple play to end the DeLaSalle threat.  The Padres improved their non league record to 5-0 and will open WCAL play on Tuesday at St. Ignatius.

Baseball Goes to 4-0 

 March 6, 2010 
The Padre baseball team traveled to Danville on Saturday to face the always tough Mustangs from Monte Vista High School.  Starting pitcher Julian Merryweather pitched 6 1/3 innings of no-hit ball before the Mustangs finally broke through.  Down 1-0, Monte Vista put together two straight singles with one out in the seventh.  Merryweather struck out the next batter and got a pop-up for the final out of the game.  Serra took the lead in the top of the seventh when Andre Mercurio's single plated Merryweather.  Mercurio finished the day 2-2 with 2 walks.  Next game for the Padres is on Monday, March 8.  The Gators from Sacred Heart Prep will visit Frisella Stadium, first pitch is set for 3:30p.m. 

Baseball Defeats Foothill

March 5, 2010
The Padre baseball team headed to across the bay and into the I-680 corridor to take on Foothill High School of Pleasanton and came home with a 12-4 win on Friday afternoon. Matt Nichol picked up his second win of the season as Serra broke open a tight game in the fourth inning with a six run outburst. Serra delivered sixteen hits in the game and were paced with multiple hits by Ray DeNardi, Sean McMillan, Julian Merryweather, PJ Mallery, Tyler Hardeman and Kyle Ferris . Ferris and McMillan also had multiple RBI's. 

 Baseball Wins Second In A Row

February 27, 2010
The bad weather forced a switch in sites to the College of San Mateo but that didn't stop Serra's varsity baseball team from picking up their second victory of the seaon with a 6-4 with over Casa Grande of Petaluma.  Julian Merryweather pitched a complete game on his way to the win.  Sean McMillan had a double for the Padres only extra base hit and Tyler Hardeman contributed two RBI's as the Padres had six hits.  Serra fell behind in the top half of the first inning by four runs.  The Padres answered with a run in the bottom half of the first.  The break through came in the fourth inning when the Padres rallied for four runs and took a 5-1 lead.  Serra added an insurance run in the sixth.

Baseball Takes Opener

February 25, 2010
The Coach Craig Gianinno Era began at Serra with a 2-0 win over visiting James Logan High School.  The Padres scored a run in each of the first two innings and that was all they needed as UC Davis bound senior pitcher Matt Nichol mowed down the Colt batters for five innings and Tyler Harderman came in and finished the shutout in the final two.  Kyle Ferris drove in the first run of the season for the Padres and Cole Strombom's double in the second drove home run number two.  Ray DeNardi, Ferris and Strombom all had doubles in the Padres seven hit outing.  "It was good to get the fist win under our belt," said Coach Gianinno.  "We have a lot to work on but I was pleased with our pitching and the intensity of our play today," he continued.