Serra of San Mateo legend gains top baseball honor after team wins CCS title in walk-off fashion. Also selected are Bob Anderson from Central Valley of Shasta Lake for medium schools and Brad Gunter Jr. from Valley Christian of Roseville for small schools.

By Mark Tennis, Executive Editor
Contributing: Paul Muyskens

A game-winning base hit to win a championship is one thing, but when it's the last game for a retiring coach – and not just any coach but one of the winningest in Northern California history – the focus is naturally going to be on that coach.

Players at Serra High of San Mateo all knew what was on the line when they batted in the bottom of the seventh inning of the CIF Central Coast Section Div. I championship last month in San Jose with the score tied at 4-4 against league rival Archbishop Mitty of San Jose.

With one out, Luca Ponti singled up the middle. He moved to second on a balk, then went to third on a passed ball. With the infield drawn in, teammate Justin Maffei also singled up the middle to score Ponti and give the Padres a 5-4 victory.

Such was the final sentence in the final chapter in the coaching career of Serra's Pete Jensen. He tried to give all the credit to his players after the game, but even the players had a sense of the moment.

"We've been working all season to give him this championship,” Ponti said. "I can't even say the words how this makes us all feel.”

Jensen himself added: "Boy, I've had so many memories at this school and to win both of our last two games the way we did and now to end it like this is right at the top. We've always had such great kids at Serra and they work so hard at it.”
The championship capped a 30-6 season for the Padres' in Jensen's 23rd and final season. It also was the fourth time he's been handed a CCS championship plaque and put his final career record at 564-181-5.

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