When their No. 3 starter can one-hit a desperate Live Oak team, it’s easy to see why the Mount Pleasant Cardinals – 10 players strong – are 18-1 and off to their best start in 20 years.
“Every time we play them, they have good pitching,” Live Oak’s Kyle Quadros said.
After beating the Acorns 3-0 Friday behind a brilliant performance by lefty David Santellano, Mount Pleasant ranked third in the nation in ERA (.64), according to MaxPreps.
The Cardinals are tops in the Santa Teresa Division in scoring (7.1 runs) but have hung their hats on a rotation led by seven-game winners in Erik Barron and Gabriel Katich. Their catcher, senior Isaiah Resendez, calls every pitch.
“He knows these guys that well,” Mount Pleasant manager Leo Newton said. “They’ve all been playing together for a while.”
The Cardinals could easily be undefeated. They lost a flukey season opener, 3-2, to Santa Teresa in nine innings, with the Saints tying it in the sixth on a dropped pop fly. The Cards (17-0 league) have won 18 straight since then, clinching the Santa Teresa Division pennant for their first title since 1992, when they upset Serra in the Central Coast Section Division I final.
Needless to say, the Acorns (7-10, 10-12) were much more in need of a win Friday at Sarich Field. They remained two games out of second place – and any hope of a playoff berth – with four games left.
“We probably have to (win) four out of four to have an outside shot,” Live Oak manager C.J. Goularte said. “We probably need some help, too, as much help as we can. Our guys are still working hard every day, but we’ve got to find a way to beat good pitching.”
Against Quadros, the Cardinals did so in a big way during the fifth inning. They batted through their lineup, as Darrian Alvarez drove in two runs on a single that dropped just in front of right fielder Aaron Armijo. Joe Molina scored on a passed ball.
“After that second hit, I just lost control,” Quadros said. “I was just trying to hit my spots, let them make ground balls, let the defense back me up.”
Quadros (2-2) went five innings with three strikeouts, one walk and two earned runs on four hits. The right-handed sophomore was perfect through four innings but ended up being a second act to his counterpart.
The deceptive 5-foot, 4-inch Santellano (3-0) struck out 11, walked one and had a no-hitter until the fourth inning. John Forestieri, the league’s hottest hitter, spoiled it with a two-out single to left.
“We just weren’t putting the ball in play,” Forestieri said. “He had a good curveball. We were getting frustrated.”
Santellano mixed his elusive benders and changeups with precision four-seam fastballs. He threw 97 pitches.
“Everything looks different from a lefty,” Newton said. “He can keep you off balance.”
As if there wasn’t enough great pitching, Quadros was lifted after the fifth for the Acorns’ ace, Mitch Hickey, who retired six of the seven batters he faced.
Santellano finally ran into trouble in the seventh, when he plunked Jalen Salazar and Michael LemMon in back-to-back at-bats after Quadros reached on an error. With two outs and the bases loaded, freshman Zach Riveron came to the plate representing the winning run. A walk-off grand slam seemed unlikely – and not because Riveron’s the No. 9 hitter. Santellano struck him out with four pitches.
“He was in the zone the whole game,” Goularte said.
