To the fans, MVHS’ game against Prospect HS seemed like just another game under a Thursday afternoon blue sky on the MVHS sports field. On the diamond though, the players can testify that there’s much more thought and action going into playing the game and representing MVHS as a Matador. Senior Allen Iwamoto had a one-hitter game as the starting pitcher on March 9, and MVHS cemented the blowout 6-0 win against PHS with three runs in the first inning that left the dugout hyped for the next eight. Below are some of the player reactions to their win against PHS.

On his pitching overall:

“I definitely struggled with my command of my location in the beginning, I wasn’t getting [strikes]. But I made an improvement, let’s say in the second, [maybe] third inning, and after that I was cruising you know? It felt good.”

On how to prepare for playing first base:
“I was thinking ‘Catch the ball, make sure it doesn’t go over me.’ In the warmups you have like pick drills where the first baseman goes and gets picks and short [opportunities] and before each inning we throw to the fielders and [they] throw back to us to warmup […] don’t know if first base is the most important because all the positions are pretty important, but [first basemen] do get involved in a lot of plays so you do have to be able to catch the balls.”

Second baseman on the team’s high point during the first inning:

]“I think the high point was in the first inning when we started off by scoring three runs because it’s really important to [have] a good start to set the tone of the game.”

Outfielder on the topic of the team’s morale:

“I think the high point was after the second inning when [Iwamoto] started to get control of his pitching and we started to hit the ball harder and time the pitcher better, and that gave us a lot more energy moving forward in the game.”

MVHS will play Lynbrook HS at home on Thurs. March 13 on the baseball diamond

Additional Reporting by Michelle Wong