Tommy Wilson, son of ‘Back to the Future’ actor, stars in win

Who would have thought the son of Biff from the 1985 movie classic, “Back to the Future,” might become a high school pitching star?

Tommy Wilson, a junior pitcher at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and the son of actor Thomas F. Wilson, came through for the Knights in their Southern Section Division 1 wild-card playoff game Tuesday, throwing five shutout innings while striking out eight in a 6-1 victory over Riverside North.

Notre Dame (16-11), one of two Mission League teams to win wild-card games, will face Marmonte League champion Agoura on Thursday at Agoura in the first round.

Freshman Ryan Mendoza had two doubles, sophomore Jake Hirabayashi had an RBI double and senior JJ Muno had a single and RBI double to lead the Knights’ hitting attack.

But Wilson’s performance is what has the Knights excited. When the season began, he was a long reliever. Then Coach Tom Dill gave him a chance to start a couple weeks ago, and he has gone 3-1.

“I just kept working as hard as I could in the bullpen,” he said. “After I got out of the first inning, I felt real good.”

Notre Dame has a history of having sons of actors in the TV and movie business doing well in sports. There was tailback Justin Fargas, whose father, Antonio, played Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series, “Starsky and Hutch.” There was baseball player Kelly Dugan, whose father, Dennis, became a top movie director and played Richie Brockelman in the 1970s TV series, “The Rockford Files.”

So Wilson is just following the Notre Dame way, and his father smiled Tuesday while wearing a hat and sunglasses to disguise himself somewhat.

“He must increase and I must decrease,” Thomas Wilson said jokingly. “Fortunately, he got his mother’s athletic prowess and his father’s good looks.”

The sons just rolls right through everything when people find out who is father is.

“I’ve gotten used it to over the years,” he said.

Things could heat up shortly, because Wilson’s father has a nice role in what could be one of the summer’s hottest movies, “The Heat,” starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com