Cathedral Catholic beats rival Saints on Senior Day

Playing for pride with the Western League baseball race already decided, Cathedral Catholic High School senior Vincent Venverloh turned into a three-way star Friday in a 5-0 win against archrival St. Augustine before a large crowd on Senior Day at Cathedral Catholic.

The USD-bound second baseman turned in a fielding gem in the top of the first inning, going behind the second-base bag to make a diving stop and a flip to shortstop Alex Harrington for a force to blunt a budding Saints rally.

In the bottom of the inning, Venerloh’s double into the right-field corner scored two to cap a three-run inning.

In the fifth inning, his single to right drove in another run.

To finish the day, Venverloh came on in relief of Owen Smyth, who was working on a no-hitter, but had walked seven and fanned seven in five-plus innings.

With a runner on and no one out in the sixth, Venverloh got a fly ball to center and a pair of strikeouts.

He lost the no-hitter in the top of the seventh when Tyler Wick’s liner to center popped out of the glove of a diving Jack McWilliams.

Venverloh proceeded to close the game on a strikeout, foul pop and strikeout to earn his fifth save of the season.

Cathedral Catholic’s baseball team cheers in the dugout during Friday’s win.

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“I was just happy to contribute,” Venverloh said. “As a player, I certainly got the maximum opportunities ... in the field, hitting and on the mound.

“I’ve had one or two other days like this, but to do this on Senior Day, with my family here, against Saints after what they did to us Wednesday, is special.”

Wednesday, No. 4-ranked St. Augustine (22-6, 7-3) wrapped up the Western League race with a 15-3 win over No. 2 Cathedral Catholic (20-7, 6-4).

With the playoff seeding meeting Saturday afternoon, both teams are assured of spots in the eight-team, double-elimination Open Division.

“But things are so tight, we might drop two or three spots in the seedings,” said St. Augustine coach Craig da Luz.

“We took a step back today, chased some pitches. But I told the guys, as much as it hurts, I’d rather do it in this game than in the playoffs.”

Smyth, a left-hander who is committed to the University of Cincinnati, worked five innings and one batter, He walked seven and struckout seven.

Other than Venverloh’s first-inning play, Mike Ruiz’s fourth-inning liner to right was the only hard-hit ball by the Saints.

“This is probably the biggest win of the year, and I’m super happy,” Smyth said. “I trusted my stuff, used all three of my pitches.

“The umpire had a pretty tight zone. Not bad, but consistently tight. So there were some walks in there.

“This most certainly gives us momentum going into the playoffs.”

Cathedral Catholic’s Elijah Selga (6) and Noah Tenbrook (10) celebrate after scoring.

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Before Friday’s games, Rancho Bernardo was No. 1 in the CIF San Diego Section Power Rankings.

Torrey Pines was No. 2, followed by St. Augustine, Patrick Henry, Granite Hills with Cathedral Catholic, Carlsbad and Eastlake rounding out the Open Division.

That all could change, however, when the seedings and divisions are posted Saturday.

“Today might have been a little more meaningful for us than them,” Dons coach Gary Remiker said of the Saints.

“We might have had a little edge on Senior Day with a big crowd.

“Venverloh was just outstanding. His play in the first inning kept it from being two-on and no-one out to start the game.

“We got some clutch hitting, and Vincent slammed the door.

“He was our MVP last year. He’s fundamentally sound in every area.

“The kind of guy you need in the playoffs.”