Bellarmine College Prep’s baseball team was riding a 3-game win streak coming into Friday’s afternoon game against fellow Jesuit rival St. Ignatius College Preparatory from San Francisco.
On the mound for the Bells was Senior RHP, #3 Apolo Lapiz, of Filipino heritage, throwing against SI’s Junior LHP, #12 Chase Gordon.
The first inning saw St. Ignatius get on the bases with consecutive hits, but Lapiz remained calm and focused. With pinpoint placement and speed, Lapiz got out of the first inning unscathed, thanks in part to Senior catcher #2 Nate Bateman’s pitch selection.
St. Ignatius’ Gordon also did well to end the first inning with the score tied 0-0.
Going into the middle of the second inning, the Bells’ Nate Bateman singled to first base followed by an error on St. Ignatius’ short stop that got #33 Dash Knight on first.
With Bateman on second, Sophomore Isaiah Beyah laid down the perfect bunt down the third baseline to load the bases.
Senior outfielder #5, Luke McNeil’s RBI single brought in Bateman for Bellarmine’s first run. With the bases still loaded, Bellarmine’s DJ Dunne grounded into a double play scoring in Knight from third.
Bellarmine saw five different Bells record at least one hit for the game. One of those hits came from Junior third baseman, Vincent Kim, with a stand-up double off of Gordon, who pitched the entire game. Lapiz pitched 4-⅔ innings with Sophomore pitcher Preston Pera #14, on the mound to close out the game.
Between the two pitchers coupled with timely defense, Bellarmine shutdown St. Ignatius’ batters, not allowing a score with a final of 2-0.
St. Ignatius dropped its third game in a row, while Bellarmine extended its win streak to four.
