Bears lose to hot-hitting Serra in nonleague baseball

After two well-pitched games that resulted in two wins this week against Menlo School and St. Francis, the Menlo-Atherton baseball team encountered a hot-hitting team in Serra and dropped an 11-3 decision Saturday at Frank Bettencourt Field.

The Padres (3-0), who have scored in double figures in each of their three games, set the tone early. After the leadoff batter reached on an error, Will Bowen ripped a two-run home run over the right-field fence to put M-A down 2-0 two batters into the game. Serra added two more runs before the inning concluded to make it 4-0 before the Bears came to bat.

M-A, with its deficit having grown to 5-0 after Serra added a run in the top of the second, came to life in the bottom half. Reno DiBono drew a walk and Rowen Barnes singled. DiBono scored on Ethan Bergan’s sacrifice fly and Barnes came home on a single to right by Colin Galles to make it 5-2.

Serra added a run in the third before relief pitcher Sean Quinton established some order by holding the Padres at bay through the fifth. Max Coupe homered to straightaway center in the bottom of the fifth to cut Serra’s lead to 6-3.

Sensing that the Bears were starting to pull within striking distance, Serra got its heavy artillery going again over the last two innings. DJ Ghiorso worked a walk to lead off the sixth and Bowen laid down a sacrifice bunt. No. 3 hitter Patrick Keighran tossed his bat away and started toward first base after taking a 3-1 pitch, but was summoned back by the home-plate umpire who called the pitch strike two. Keighran hit the next pitch over the fence in left-center.

Keighran added a two-run homer to right in the seventh.

M-A is now 2-3 with all five games against private school opponents, four of the five against teams from the West Catholic Athletic League. The next game is Tuesday at home against another WCAL heavyweight, Bellarmine, as second-year coach David Trujillo attempts to elevate the program and move up from the Peninsula Athletic League’s Ocean Division to the top tier PAL Bay.