On Tuesday, May 14th, the Archie Williams varsity baseball team took on the Encinal Jets in their first round of the North Coast Section (NCS) tournament. The game was at home for the Falcons, however they were the away team because of their lower seeding and Encinal’s home field was not available. After a close start, the Jets flew past the Falcons and put an end to their season.
“We never stopped fighting, never put our heads down, never gave up. We had plenty of opportunities we just weren’t able to execute,” said head coach Tyler Weeks.
The game started slow, with both teams getting three quick outs in the first inning. The second inning was no different for the Falcons but the Jets came out strong with runners on second and third and no outs. Because of an error from the Falcons, the Jets got two runners home, giving them an early 2-0 lead.
The Falcons came out hitting in the third inning with junior Miki Accomazzo and senior Max Lefferts on second and third base. A hit from junior Jack Evans got Miki home. Then Gilbert Roth got a 2 strike hit to bring Max home.
The Falcons tied up the game 2-2 heading into the bottom of the third. An offensive surge from the Jets in the top of fourth was powered by two singles and a homerun. The Falcons subbed out senior pitcher Sam Black and subbed in senior Peter Irwin. The Jets then got a single, which brought two more runners home before the inning ended with the Jets up 7-2.
The Falcons continued to struggle in the fourth inning with three quick outs. The Jets got two runners on base and got one of them home before the inning ended with the Jets up 8-2. In the fifth inning, singles from Max and Jack plus junior Joey Altman’s 8 pitch walk gave the Falcons bases loaded with no outs. A double from Gilbert off the left field wall brought a runner home. Senior Hudson Lofrano hit a single to right and brought home two more runners, shifting the score to 5-8. The Falcons carried this momentum into the outfield, getting three quick outs.
A slow start to the sixth inning left the Falcons with two outs and no one on base. With Joey and Miki getting walked and Max hitting a single, the Falcons had bases loaded. Unfortunately, they failed to capitalize, as Jack struck out on a controversial strike. Following a single from the Jets, the Falcons forced two quick outs from back-to-back fly balls caught from senior Jackson Oliver-Roa. As a runner on third based attempted to steal home plate, he slid straight into the catcher, Gilbert. He was ruled out as he never made contact with home plate.
With potentially one inning left in the Falcons’ season, they needed to do whatever it took to get three runs in. They started with a single from Gilbert, followed by a fly ball out. Ethan Frankel and Jackson got on base, giving them bases loaded with one out in the final inning. Freshman pinch hitter Solomon Ojalvo subbed in for his first at bat of the game. With two balls and two strikes, Solomon grounded into a double play to end the game.
“The team battled hard, we went down early in the first with our star pitcher on the mound. We then came back and put three more runs up. The defense was a little bit shaky, but our batting definitely came alive towards the end. We battled hard, but it just didn’t come out our way,” said Max.
