The varsity baseball team felt the adrenaline kicking in as they got ready to play their rival team, Sequoia.
“We felt confident going into the game after getting a win against Burlingame last Friday. This was a rivalry game, so we were fired up to play,” said junior and catcher Connor Loucks.
The game consisted of long innings as both teams proved to have strong defenses and offenses.
Sequoia also proved to be confident as they started off the game with a run after an error at third by Carlmont.
Junior and pitcher Spencer Stewart said, “I was feeling really uncomfortable pitching wise. I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t have the command over the pitches as I had hoped. I was just trusting that my defense was going to make a lot of plays.”
Fighting back, senior and center fielder Julian Billot hit a home run to left center field to start off the bottom of the first inning. Junior and shortstop Tyler Brandenburg followed up with a grounder to third. After stealing second and third base, Brandenburg scored on a grounder to second by senior and designated hitter Ryan Callahan. The inning ended with Carlmont leading 2-1.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, senior and third baseman Michael McGill hit a double to left field, followed by a bunt by Loucks. Billot then hit a sacrifice fly to bring in McGill. The inning ended with a pop up to second base by sophomore and right fielder Vinny Bologna with Carlmont leading 3-1.
Frustration took over Sequoia in the bottom of the fifth as senior and first baseman Alex Pennes was hit by a pitch. Senior and pinch runner Zac Miller stole second base as he was put in to run for Pennes, followed by a walk by senior and left fielder Alex Smith. Stewart then hit a single to left field to score Miller, followed by a steal home by Smith. The inning ended with Carlmont leading 5-1.
The lack of motivation by the Cherokees was shown towards the end of the game when Brandenburg stole home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the sixth. The game ended with a win of 6-1, Carlmont.
“We definitely supported each other through the at-bats. We didn’t hit many pop flies, which was good,” said Pennes.
“It was a little weird because we were missing four of our best players, and a lot of guys were stressing out, but we were really happy with how we played,” said Stewart. “We took momentum from our game on Monday when we were down and came back. We carried that momentum into our practice, and then carried that momentum into our game.”
Although Carlmont proved to dominate against Sequoia, they’re hoping they can fix their errors.
“We’re trying to get our bats starting to hit. Not everyone is hitting on the team, and we’re trying to get everyone to hit,” said Pennes.
Carlmont will play Sequoia again on Friday night at 4 p.m. “We’re hoping for another win, and a sweep against Sequoia,” said Loucks.
