San Diego Padres two-hit by local high school team

SAN DIEGO, CA — As the San Diego Padres faced local St. Mary’s High School on a recent off-day, they didn’t think they would be in for much of a challenge. And they probably figured they would get more than two hits.

Yet the Padres were (and didn’t, respectively) when they played their annual game against a local high school to raise money for charity. This year, the St. Mary’s Sharks – who sported an 11-12 record coming into the contest – was the lucky school that made its way to Petco Park to take on the Pads. After the usual meet and greet, the game got started with Glendon Rusch hurling for the big league squad.

Naturally, the St. Mary’s squad did little offensively. But the surprise was how little the Padres were able to accomplish against Sharks pitcher Joey Walsh. The 17-year-old righty only allowed two hits in a seven-inning complete game. Even though the Padres won 1-0, Walsh was thrilled.

“I felt like I had good stuff out there,” he said. “I pretty much only throw fastballs, with maybe a changeup mixed in every now and then… But I just kept them off balance, I guess.”

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The Padres were tied with the Sharks 0-0 going into the bottom of the seventh, and the only San Diego hit to that point was a Brian Giles single in the third inning. But with two outs in the inning, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit a line drive to the right-center field wall that the Sharks outfielders couldn’t corral, and he ended up rounding the bases for the winning score.

For their part, the Padres were surprised with the way Walsh threw.

“He was popping fastballs in there at 81 or 82,” said Khalil Greene, who went 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts on the day. “There wasn’t much movement on them, and he didn’t have great control, but we couldn’t hit it.”

Giles was not as impressed, and cited the spacious Petco Park as the reason his team struggled offensively. “Really, it’s the park, not us. It’s perfect for pitchers, so that’s why we had a hard time today.”