They got the runs, but they couldn’t manage the win. Varsity baseball took a hard loss against the Menlo Knights on Wednesday afternoon.
Designated hitter Alex Pennes started off the game during the second inning with a run batted in (RBI) to bring in first baseman Joe Pratt. The inning ended shortly after with no runs scored for Menlo.
The bats came alive for Carlmont in the fourth inning. Tied at 2-2 with one out on the board, third baseman Aaron Albaum hit a solid grounder to shortstop. Center fielder Nick Thompson, second baseman Kyle Barret, and Pratt kept the streak going with three consecutive line drives.
“I think we played pretty well,” said catcher Connor Loucks. “We just got unlucky and had a tough loss. We had too many errors.”
Menlo came back during the sixth inning with walks, grounders, and stolen bases.
“We had a lot of errors in the infield and outfield,” said Pennes. “We need to work on [our defense].”
With a tied game and not much daylight left, the boys entered the seventh inning with new energy. Shortstop Michael McGill started off the inning with a grounder to third, followed by a bunt up the third baseline by left fielder Julian Billot. Albaum followed Billot up with a line drive to right field, scoring McGill and bringing Carlmont into the lead.
Although they had a two run lead, Carlmont couldn’t keep Menlo from tying up the game once again. Tied at 8-8, the game went into extra innings.
Carlmont’s offense was unable to put more runs on the board, and were shortly back in the field. With one out and bases loaded, the fifth batter for Menlo hit a line drive to right field, ending the game with a final score of 9-8 Menlo.
“We fought the whole time,” said pitcher Matt Seubert. “Things just didn’t go our way and we lost.”
Even though the team faced a tough loss, they refuse to give in. Carlmont’s next game is against Half Moon Bay High School on Thursday, April 10 at 4 p.m.
“We are coming out of the gates ready to compete [tomorrow],” said Loucks. “We are not going to accept a loss on our home turf.”
