HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Pamus Strong in Saint Victory

After what happened the other day, St. Augustine junior right-hander Javier Pamus figured he needed a strong outing Thursday against Point Loma in a City Conference Peninsula Bank Baseball Tournament game at the Saints’ Hickman Field.

Correction: “He knew he had to have a good game,” joked St. Augustine Coach Mike Stephensen, whose right eye socket is still black and blue and swollen from a foul ball Pamus failed to catch Tuesday in a victory over Marian.

Consider Pamus absolved. He allowed only three hits in six innings against Point Loma and, for good measure, drove in the winning run as the Saints won, 5-3, and improved to 6-2, 3-0 in the round-robin tournament.

Only one Point Loma run was earned. Only one Point Loma hit left the infield, and even that was deflected by shortstop Memo Lopez, who later got his third save with a perfect seventh inning.

Pamus (3-1) struck out six and walked two.

“I threw well, but I felt a little off,” Pamus said. “I felt I could throw a little better, but maybe I can’t. Maybe that’s as good as it gets.”

Said Stephensen: “When he maintains concentration, he’s as tough as anyone around. If he’s around the plate, we’ve got a chance.”

The same could be said of Point Loma senior Josh Serrano, who made his first start after regaining eligibility two weeks ago. Serrano (0-1) struck out nine in six innings, but was victimized by control problems.

St. Augustine went ahead 1-0 in the fourth inning on three walks and a sacrifice fly to right by Pamus. In the fifth, Serrano hit the No. 9 batter, Paul Hernandez, and Saints went on to score three runs with two outs. In the sixth, Pete Albers lined a double off the right field fence and scored on two wild pitches by Serrano.

“Overall, I’m real happy with the way (Serrano) pitched,” Pointer Coach John Gunther said. “He had good velocity, and he had a good breaking ball.”

Stephensen agreed: “He threw the ball harder than anybody we’ve faced so far.”

Craig DaLuz had two of Saints’ six hits, including a two-run single. Point Loma (5-6-1, 2-1 in the tournament) scored its runs in the sixth, two coming after two St. Augustine throwing errors.