BASEBALL: San Mateo Tops SSF for Third Time

The Score: San Mateo 8, South City 7.

The Star: San Mateo High’s Chris Zografos went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and three RBIs to lead his team to the Peninsula Spring Classic Tournament victory at Aragon High on Tuesday afternoon. The senior catcher had a booming two-out hit that drove in two runs in the third inning to stake the Bearcats to a 5-4 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Turning Point: San Mateo went from trailing to leading with Zografos’ two-RBI hit in the third. The Bearcats then added two more runs the next inning to pad their advantage to 7-4, which proved enough to ward off South City’s late rally.

The Quote: “We just had to stay tough, keep fighting at the plate and score runs.” – San Mateo left fielder Alex Strathearn, on what it took for his team to avoid getting rattled after falling behind 3-0 in the first inning.

What’s Next? San Mateo plays back-to-back games on Thursday. The Bearcats play at Mills at noon and then face Crystal Springs Uplands at 3:30 p.m.

The Bottom Line: The Bearcats (5-8) earned their third victory against South San Francisco (5-7) in a week, but this was by far the closest and most competitive of the three. San Mateo prevailed by getting runners in scoring position and getting the timely hits to drive them in.

Notes: Starting pitcher Matt Erlick, Eduardo Trujillo, Zografos and Strathearn had a double apiece for the Bearcats in the game. … San Mateo won despite being out-hit 14-12 in large part because the Bearcats committed no errors while South City made four. … R.J. Asuncion relieved Erlick (4-4) in the sixth inning. … San Mateo needed its cushion down the stretch. South City’s Joey Moro blasted a two-run home run in the seventh to cut the Bearcats’ lead to 8-7. … San Mateo sophomore second baseman Daryl Semien, Jr. is the son of South City head coach Daryl Semien. The younger generation owns bragging rights this year – San Mateo is 3-0 against the Warriors, including two Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division victories. … San Mateo is 2-8 against all other opponents.

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San Mateo 8, South San Francisco 7.

SM – 032 210 0 – 8 12 0

SSF – 310 010 2 – 7 14 4

WP: Erlick (4-4). LP: Mohr (1-4).

HR: Moro (SSF). 2B: Zografos, Strathearn, Elrick, Trujillo (SM); Mohr, Low (SSF). 3 hits: Zografos, Mohr (SM). 2 hits: Erlick, Trujillo (SM); Moro, Karditzas, Marccuci, Azar (SSF). 3 RBI: Zografos (SM), Moro (SSF). 2 RBI: Erlick, Trujillo (SM); Mohr (SSF).

Records: San Mateo 5-8. South San Francisco 5-7.