Varsity Baseball defeated Lynbrook High School 9-4 on Thursday, May 2. Despite LHS scoring an early run in the first inning, the Matadors were able to recover quickly in the second inning with an eight-point run. The midgame was slow, as the Matadors were unable to score any runs until the 7th inning, while LHS slowly caught up throughout. However, the momentum from the early game was enough to secure a victory, bringing MVHS’s season record so far to 8 wins against 16 losses.
Coming off of a win against Del Mar High School, Head Coach Shawn Voigt believes the game went well, citing the team’s rigorous practice. Voigt says the endurance of the team throughout the game, specifically spotlighting the performance of the team’s pitcher.
“Joseph Murai, our freshman pitcher, just played his heart out and I’m really proud of his performance,” Voigt said. “The team stayed engaged, especially during the second inning and throughout the game. Afterward, we kept up the lead and kept battling.”
Murai agrees that the strong start was the key to their win. Besides the performance of the offensive batting shown in the second inning, the defensive pitching was also able to maintain its high caliber throughout the game. Although Murai initially wasn’t used to pitching on the Lynbrook field, he quickly adjusted and was able to exercise more control in his pitching.
“I think we played really well, especially for that second inning where we scored eight points because that carried us through the game,” Murai said. “I challenged a lot of the batters and forced them to swing, and I let my defense work behind me.”
However, Murai sees room for improvement in the midgame, believing that the team could have scored more runs throughout the game as well. Voigt agrees, noting that they grew complacent because of their strong lead.
“When we were up by a good amount of runs, we didn’t take care of the ball and that’s an issue that we need to work on and be better going forward,” Voigt said. “We’ll work on making good throws and executing small ball plays.”
The morale going into the game was high, as it was on the same day as Lynbrook’s senior night. According to Murai, this — along with the sting of losing the last two games against Lynbrook — strengthened the team’s determination to win.
“Last year we beat them on their senior night,” Murai said. “We wanted to do it two times in a row, so we came in with really high energy. The highlight for me was all the cheering in the dugout whenever we scored because we knew what it felt like to lose to them. So we just really wanted to win.“
