Varsity Baseball fell to Cupertino High School 4-3 on Thursday, May 1. Despite MVHS leading the game 3-2 for the majority of the game, a loaded-up base — in which the first, second and third bases all had players on them — during the final ball of the last inning led to two consecutive runs being scored by CHS. In the very last ball, the current CHS batter was able to hit the ball between two fielders which gave just enough time for both the second and the third basemen to get to home base and therefore end the game.
Pitcher and sophomore Joseph Murai highlighted some key plays that kept the Matadors’ morale high throughout the game. Murai was able to strike out the current batter during the fourth and fifth inning, leading to the CHS third basemen being unable to secure a run. While Murai demonstrated a high level of skill throughout the game, there were numerous diving plays from MVHS fielders that prevented CHS from scoring. Murai mentions MVHS catcher and sophomore Van Chow having a nice play in which he threw the CHS runner out before he could get to first base.
“I held them to two runs, which kept us in the game for a while.” Murai said. “We also got a shutdown inning, where they didn’t score at all, which was crucial because then we had high momentum to score runs.I picked my fielders up if they did poorly or if they made a big error. I was always there to encourage them.”
Despite MVHS’ player base being very well-rounded and morale remaining high through a multiple-inning long standstill, head coach Shawn Voigt accentuates their inability to stop CHS from getting those last two runs right before the game ended. Even though the game ultimately resulted in a loss, Voigt doesn’t feel discouraged.
“I was really proud of the passion that we saw, even though there was anger,” Voigt said. “Three years ago, this program would have not cared about the loss and been on their way but we care now and we want to win. We want to be competitive and at the top of our league, and we’re not gonna be satisfied until we are, and that’s why I’m proud of that attitude from our team today.”
