The Carlmont High baseball team celebrated Senior Day by scoring in each of the first two innings against Sequoia, and it was all the host Scots needed to prevail 2-0 in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game on Wednesday afternoon.
The victory, along with Burlingame’s 4-3 win against Menlo-Atherton on Wednesday, leaves the Scots (17-8, 8-5 PAL Bay) in a two-way tie for second place in the Bay with Burlingame (15-11, 8-5) with one game to go. Both teams would lock up one of the league’s four automatic berths in the Central Coast Section playoffs with a win on Friday – or they could do so with a loss by either Terra Nova or Hillsdale, which are tied for fourth, one game back.
El Camino’s 13-0 win against Terra Nova (14-10-1, 7-6) ended Carlmont’s hopes of earning a share of the league title for the second straight year. El Camino secured the outright championship, its first-ever in the PAL’s top division.
If the Scots win at Sequoia (10-14-1, 4-9) on Friday, they will clinch at least a tie for second place.
Carlmont left-hander Daniel Madigan, in his final home game, picked up his seventh win of the season in amazing fashion on Wednesday. He struck out 11 as part of his fifth complete game and third shutout.
Madigan has been difficult for opponents all season. He has struck out 67 batters in 59 1/3 innings while walking only 19.
Senior catcher Colton Hicks, who has team highs with three home runs and 21 RBIs, put Carlmont on the board with a two-out RBI single in the first inning. Then a two-out single from Kyle Barret in the second drove home Gabe Belnick, who reached on an error, to give the Scots a 2-0 lead.
Bradley Levine, the probable starting pitcher on Friday, has been impressive in his own right on the mound. He has a 2.07 ERA and a team-best .189 opponent batting average.
First pitch on Friday is at 3:15 at Sequoia.
Silly.