2024 WCAL baseball: Valley Christian beats Serra

EleonMay 10, 2024

10 5 minutes read

SAN JOSÉ – Rocco Muccilli chose a good time for his first home run of the season.

Valley Christian trailed Serra 2-0 late in the fourth. Brock Ketelsen hit a two-run double to tie the score and Muccilli came to the plate with two outs and Ketelsen on second.

The senior hit a high shot over the fence to left center.

“Going around the bases, I was pretty excited,” Muccilli said. “It was an inside fastball. My mindset was to stay relaxed, get a pitch I could handle, be relaxed and just give the ball a good swing.

His blast gave it a 4-2 lead and the Warriors held on for a 4-3 victory Thursday in the championship game of the West Catholic Athletic League tournament.

An unexpected hero?

“Rock has been a leader on the team all year,” Valley Christian coach John Diatte said. “He got better with every practice. For this to happen is more of a simple process of hard work.

Valley Christian High's Rocco Muccilli (7) celebrates rounding the bases after hitting a two-run home run against Serra High during their WCAL championship game at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, May 9 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) — Valley Christian High’s Rocco Muccilli (7) celebrates rounding the bases after hitting a two-run home run against Serra High during their WCAL championship game at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, May 9 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

Valley Christian (26-4) and Serra (22-6) both went 11-3 during the regular season and are tied for first place, making them the WCAL co-champions . Valley Christian already had the tiebreaker for the league’s top seed in the playoffs, which would not have changed even if Serra had won the league tournament.

Nonetheless, the WCAL tournament victory was an occasion for great celebration from Valley Christian players.

“It means so much,” Ketelsen said. “I mean, this team has worked so hard and been through a ton of trials and tribulations this year. Just getting this win is a big thing for our team.

“The tournament is a fun way to really get yourself into playoff baseball mode,” Serra coach Mat Keplinger said. “Today was a great match, very competitive between two very good teams. Single turn game, what else could you ask for. Hats off and I’m really proud of us. Getting on the road here is not easy.

Quinten Marsh gave up a two-run homer to Jake Downing in the third inning, but held the Padres to just two runs in the six innings he worked.

“Quinten has meant money to us since the day he arrived on our campus,” Diatte said. “A quality kid who competes well. You have to love guys who want to go out, who want the ball and who want to compete.

Marsh, a junior southpaw committed to Stanford, improved to 9-3 this season.

Valley Christian High's Quinten Marsh (24) throws against Serra High during their WCAL championship game at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group) — Valley Christian High’s Quinten Marsh (24) throws against Serra High during their WCAL championship game at Valley Christian High School in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)

“The key for me was trusting our sticks,” he said. “I knew if I gave up two, it wasn’t the end of the world because we were going to score more than that. My goal today was to trust my fastball, get them early, and my change also worked towards the end.

Alex Kim entered the game in the seventh inning. He allowed a one-out single to batter Ian Armstrong and a two-out RBI hit to Downing before ending the game with a strikeout for his third save of the season.

Marsh benefited from a superb diving catch in the middle of the field by his brother, Tatum Marsh, also committed to Stanford, and another superb catch on the left by Hunter Fujimoto.

“I thought their play on the court was amazing,” Keplinger said. “That was probably the difference in the game.”

Downing homered in Serra’s three runs to increase his batting average to .388 and give him 27 RBIs in 28 games this season.

Both teams will now look toward the Central Coast Section playoffs, most likely as the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in Division I.

“It’s likely we’ll have to face them one or two more times,” Diatte said with a laugh. “The fact that we are playing better baseball right now is the key. We’re starting to hit the ball a little better and now it’s time to hit our peak.

“Our ultimate goals are still ahead of us,” Keplinger said.