The boys varsity baseball team falls apart in the sixth inning
Despite the Matadors’ intense efforts to break their losing streak, the boys varsity baseball team was unable to defeat one of the top teams in the De Anza league, the Wilcox Chargers. The Matadors charged at the Chargers on April 2, but to no avail, losing 0-9.
The Matadors started the game off strong and put up a tough fight against the Chargers. Their defense executed, holding off the Chargers and preventing them from scoring while their offense had a couple solid hits. However, once the Chargers scored their first run in the third inning, they were able to score at least one run in the rest of the innings.
With junior Grant Manley up to bat at the bottom of the fourth, the Matadors hoped for at least a single for motivation after the Chargers just scored. Unfortunately, he was unable to execute and was struck out by the Charger pitcher. Soon after, there was a dispute between coach Brian Sullivan and the referee whether a player slid to second base safely or not.
I tried to gain momentum for the team," Sullivan said. "I wanted to show the team that I could stick up for my players."
Although this fired up the team, the referee called it an out, and the game headed into the fifth inning with the Matadors down 0-2.
A Charger hit a grounder in the top of the fifth inning that slid right past the third basemen, allowing his teammate at second base to score. The Matador defense stepped it up in order to prevent the Chargers from scoring any more and caught easy fly balls for outs. Although senior Kevin Wilson was able to run a double, loading second and third base, the team was unable to bring the boys to home plate.
The sixth inning was awfully unlucky for the Matadors; sloppy defense along with the pouring rain caused them to lose focus. The Matadors were unable to put a stop to any of the Chargers’ steals, giving the Chargers five consecutive runs and putting them up 8-0 by the end of the sixth.
"[In the sixth inning,] we just kept making mistakes, and we were making simple mistakes like communication," Wilson said. "It was a snowball effect. Whenever we would make a mistake, we would get disappointed with ourselves which caused even more mistakes."
After the performance seen in the sixth inning, the parental support in the stands began to question whether their loss was due to the unexpected weather or their own discouragement. Sullivan stated their problem was just plain execution.
"We just had trouble playing the game of baseball: catching, throwing, hitting," Sullivan said.
Although the Matadors cleaned up their defense by the seventh inning, they still allowed one last run for the Chargers, who were then able to stop the Matadors’ attempt to score at least one run by catching two fly balls. Disappointingly, senior Tyler Young who had a solid performance throughout the game was struck out by the Charger pitcher, ending the game with a score of 9-0 in the Chargers’ favor.
The Matadors will try and finally break their streak when they play their rival, the Lynbrook High School Vikings, on April 6.
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