St. Vincent’s Mustangs leave their hearts in San Francisco

Stuart Hall pitcher Willie Reader limited visiting St. Vincent to only two hits as the Knights eliminated the Mustangs from the North Coast Section baseball playoffs with a 7-0 win in San Francisco.|

Stuart Hall pitcher Willie Reader limited visiting St. Vincent to only two hits as the Knights eliminated the Mustangs from the North Coast Section baseball playoffs with a 7-0 win in San Francisco on Friday afternoon. The Division V game was played at the historic Rec Diamond in the heart of Golden Gate Park.

While Reader was not untouchable on the sunny afternoon, he had near-perfect control as Mustang hitters put the ball in play early in the count in the fast-paced game. Only three batters reached base for St. Vincent on two hits and an error made by the Stuart Hall left fielder. Reader faced a minimum of three batters in all but one inning.

A preview of the fate of the Mustangs came after lead-off hitter Bradley Leach hit an off-field single beyond the glove the Stuart Hall first baseman. A couple of pitches later, Reader quickly threw to first base and Leach was clearly caught off the bag.

Mustang starting pitcher Dominic Pedersen got into immediate trouble in the bottom half of the frame when he walked the first batter he faced in front of a Reader single. A sacrifice fly and RBI single by Alex Palmer gave the Knights an early 2-0 advantage.

Pedersen struggled with his control from the outset, and was lifted in the third inning in favor of reliever Jack Romano. Four walks and a like number of hits proved to be his undoing, and he was eventually charged with six runs. Pitches high in the strike zone and a couple of wild pick-off attempts at first base didn’t help.

While he was not particularly sharp on the mound, it was Pedersen who had the loudest hit of the afternoon when he drove a long fly-ball double over the head of the Knight left fielder, who was playing very deep. The blast would have been a home run in most high school venues, but Pedersen had to settle for two bases in the open confines of Rec Park.

Things continued to go south for the Mustangs when Pedersen tried to advance to third base on a ground ball in front of him to shortstop, but the throw was waiting at third base, and the St. Vincent threat was nullified.

Stuart Hall bunched two runs in each of the first two innings to take most of the mystery out of the game. Palmer finished with three hits and Reader chipped in with two more as the fourth-seeded Knights advanced to the semifinal round to face top-seeded St. Joseph of Alameda. St. Joseph defeated Head Royce of Oakland, 11-2.

A cluster of Mustang supporters applauded the team following the game for another outstanding baseball season under the direction of veteran coach Gary Galloway. St. Vincent (19-7) has advanced to the NCS playoffs in 11 consecutive seasons.

Last year, the Mustangs dropped a 3-2 decision to Redwood Christian in a second-round night contest played in San Leandro.

St. Vincent loses Pedersen, its most reliable pitcher during the season (2.46 ERA before the game) but Romano returns. Romano again did a creditable job allowing only one run to the Knights in three-plus innings of work.

Shortstop Nick Vollert had a solid day at shortstop, including making a quick field and throw of a ball that bounced off the pitcher’s glove for an out at first base.

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