In the News: South City Claims the Rivalry ‘Glove’ Trophy

The South City football team was hailed for the epic turnaround of the program during the fall season. While the baseball team’s turnaround isn’t as dramatic — the Warriors will finish with a .500 or better record in PAL Lake Division play for the fifth straight year — it does warrant a mention South City is in the midst of its best baseball season of the post-Bob Brian era.

 

The Warriors (17-5) snapped a six-game head-to-head losing streak against El Camino with a 10-7 non-league home win Saturday in the annual rivalry Glove Trophy game. It is the first time South City has defeated its archrival since 2017.

 

South City’s Giovanni Bernal has garnered attention for his prowess on the pitcher’s mound this season, but Saturday he led the way at the plate. The sophomore went 3 for 4 with two doubles and a career-high five RBIs, improving his season batting average to .368. Bernal also fired one scoreless inning in relief of starter Gabriel Martin, who battled through five-plus innings of work to earn the win.

 

El Camino (12-7) led it early, overcoming South City’s two-run rally in the first to take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the fourth. But the Warriors rallied for four runs in the inning to take the lead for good. Martin totaled three hits with a double, an RBI and a run scored for South City. Martin Chen, Emilio Oseguera and Owen Keith added two hits apiece.

 

The Colts totaled 10 hits on the day, and starting pitcher Ryan Bollentini was snakebit by poor defense. El Camino committed two errors, while Bollentini worked three innings, allowing three runs (zero earned) on five hits and two walks while striking out three. Adrian Iniguez took the loss in relief.

 

Iniguez, Jacob Alcantara, Kevin Cristobal and Nicholas Jang totaled two hits apiece for El Camino.

 

After Giovanni Bernal pitched a scoreless sixth, freshman reliever Vince Bernal closed it out with a scoreless seventh to earn the save.