SAN JOSE — Clearing that final hurdle will have to wait.
Palma High returned to the Central Coast Section Division IV baseball finals for the second time in three years Friday, but fell 2-0 to Santa Teresa of San Jose at San Jose Municipal Stadium.
The Saints, who came into the tournament as the final seed in Division IV at No. 8, had a unique path to the championship, having stunned top-seed Wilcox of Santa Clara, then using 14 innings to beat Leland in the semifinals to reach the title game.
“We might have been a little nervous and excited,” Palma coach Sal Cardinale said. “We’re a young team. But we were ready. The guy for Santa Teresa pitched well today. The ball did not fall our way. It’s baseball.”
The setback was the first loss outside of the Pacific Coast Athletic League Gabilan Division this year for the Chieftains, who came into the game 7-0 in nonleague and playoff games.
Palma, which finished the year 18-11, started two sophomores and a freshman in Friday’s game and had another freshman on the field in the latter innings.
“The experience of being here will help us going forward,” Cardinale said. “We have a good foundation in place. We have a lot of talent at the lower levels. I feel good about the direction we are headed.”
Cardinale also has two future starters in the field who were limited to designated hitter duties this year after having off-season arm surgery while with other programs in 2022. Just three starters are seniors.
On the heels of knocking off Gabilan Division rival Salinas in the semifinals for the fourth time this year, the Chieftains were held scoreless for just the third time all spring — all in the month of May.
“We had early threats where we had a runner in scoring position,” Cardinale said. “We just couldn’t get the run home. We hit a lot of ball deeps. But this a deep ballpark.”
The title game was played at the San Jose Giants High A minor league stadium.
Santa Teresa (16-13), which was making its first-ever CCS finals appearance, broke up a scoreless battle in the fourth inning, producing the only two runs in the game, with the benefit of just two hits.
Senior Quentin Williams hurled the first four frames, allowed only three hits for Palma, while freshman Rocco Razzeca tossed three shutout innings of relief.
Razzeca also tossed three shutout innings to pick up the win in Wednesday’s 3-2 decision over Salinas. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when Palma’s defense turned a double play to end the inning.
The Chieftains, whose last and only CCS title came in 2007, came into the title game riding a three-game winning streak, including a pair of one-run decisions as the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.