Varsity Baseball Scores First in League: Senior Night Play-by-play

BY NICHOLAS BRANDT

Varsity baseball has placed first in League for the first time in 17 years. The team has come a long way from the beginning of the season and is excited to keep the season going strong into CIF. The team will have two weeks to prepare for their upcoming games. On May 10, varsity baseball fell to the Charter Oak Chargers 9-3. Though the team came up short on Senior Night, the boys definitely proved that they are champion material throughout their season as well as their ability to put up a fight with an unfamiliar lineup.

The Chargers started off with a bit of pressure in the first inning, scoring three runs: however, WCHS knew how to put their bats to the ball and fought back. Line drives to left from #7 Gregory Navarro and #8 Mario Ruiz showed the Chargers that the Bulldogs had no intentions of backing down. After a tough first two innings, the score was at 6-0 Chargers.

After the second inning, varsity baseball began to pick up steam as they denied Charter Oak play after play on defense. #14 Ruben Ramirez on the mound picked off a runner at second base during the third inning, setting up the Bulldogs to score on offense. The fourth inning was just as strong at stopping the Chargers as #15 Alejandro Loera successfully caught a line drive headed for right field with a leap from second followed by a grounder to end the top of the fourth.

To celebrate their accomplishments, the senior players were given a glass jar to keep with dirt from their home field. Photo by Nicholas Brandt

Throughout the rest of the game, WCHS proved that the fences were made to be swung for. #19 Phillip Rojas led the charge in the fifth inning with a single immediately followed by Ruiz with a shot to deep left field for a double. The sixth inning held yet another score for the Bulldogs as Rojas hits in a runner moved over by a line drive by #6 Joseph Moran. Both teams were locked in a struggle to secure more runs by the end of the seventh inning, the game being called at a score of 9-3.

“I felt that we played OK, testing out players in new positions,” varsity baseball head coach Daniel Zapata said. “Despite the setback at the beginning of the season, the boys stepped up and we won League.”

Be sure to support varsity baseball in two weeks when they suit up and hit the diamond again in CIF.