• Wildcats play hard against Miramonte, Dublin and Campolindo but can’t take wins

The Wildcats suffered three losses in their last three league games, losing 6-4 to Miramonte, 2-0 to Dublin and 5-2 to Campolindo.

On Apr. 14, the Wildcats first battled Miramonte.  The team started the first half of the game strong, but in the end were caught by surprise at the sudden improvement of the Miramonte players. This change in gameplay cost DV the win.

Although neither team had any home runs until the third inning, the Wildcats initially appeared to have the upper hand. When up to bat first, Miramonte managed to get in two hits. Luckily for the Wildcats, Evan Seidell and Garrison Wong focused on the ball and got both Miramonte players out.

In the second half of the inning, Reno Zemrak managed to get to first base, but was left stranded after both Michael Pangelinan and Tommy Jew struck out.

Starting the second inning, none of the Miramonte players could even make it to first base. Miramonte’s third player batted a promising fly ball that elicited a cheer from the Matadors, but Jew’s skills shone through as he caught the ball.

The game heated up when the Wildcats were up to bat and Pangelinan and Brandon Visperas moved onto first and second base. After two outs from Garrett Hill and Nick Coppola, it seemed that the bases would start moving again when Will Brega hit the ball and moved to first base, shifting Pangelinan and Visperas to second and third. With the bases fully loaded, DV supporters were on the edge of their seats anticipating a home run, but Miramonte caught Derek Cho’s ball, resulting in a third out.

In the third inning, both Miramonte and DV managed to hit home runs, putting them at a 1-1 tie. Later, Jew hit a two-run home run that brought two players home, bringing the score to 3-1. Visperas later followed his teammate, upping the score 4-1.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats’ cheers and celebration were cut short when Miramonte managed to bat a home run that brought them ahead of the Wildcats. Another home run soon brought the game to a close, with Miramonte taking the win.

Disappointed by the loss, Cho stated after the game, “Honestly, I have no idea what happened.”

Hill, also very let down, said, “It showed us that we really need to work on more things during practice … work on closing out a game 100 percent. It was a huge disappointment and just showed that we need to stay in the moment.”

Next up for the Wildcats were the Dublin Gaels on Apr. 21 at Dublin High School. The final score, 0-2, was a result of bad luck and poor coordination.

Hill stated, “The team collectively was not that raw. We let down our pitcher.”

Following the Dublin game, on Apr. 23, the Wildcats went up against the Campolindo cougars. The beginning of the game saw a lack of significant plays. Halfway through the second inning though, Jackson Phillips and Seidell made it home, putting the Wildcats in the lead, 2-1.

However, for the next few innings there was quite a stalemate for both teams until Collin Carey came to pitch at the top of the sixth inning; the score was 2-2 and the bases were loaded. There were no outs and Carey successfully blocked the Cougars from scoring.

This significant play on the Wildcats’ side was not enough to win the game though, because at the end of the eighth inning, Campolindo scored three runs, beating the Wildcats 5-3.

Head Coach Croker said, “The past few games we have been playing hard. They were tough games. We just kind of had a few things go wrong, which was bad luck.”