The baseball team improved their record to 10-2 after two back-to-back home wins on April 25 and 26, moving to second in their region. This included a walk-off home run from senior Zach Roach, contributing to a 3-2 win against Churchill, and a 12-10 win against Northwest.
“I am very happy with how our season has turned out so far,” senior Brady Chan said. “We had a tough stretch with a couple of losses in a row but I am happy with how the team bounced back and regrouped.”
The Wildcats are now second in a stacked 4A West II region, trailing behind their dominant rival, the B-CC Barons, who won the first eight games of the season before losing to the Whitman Vikings on April 22. The Cats and Vikings have played each other twice, with each team winning one game apiece.
The Cats look back on their performance this far into the season, with the bulk of their regular season in the books.
“This season has been great and full of memories,” senior Connor McGee said. “As a team we need to be a bit more focused in practice but all around we have been having a great season.”
After losing key seniors Vance Bonior, Jay Wandell, Jay Goldberg and Aidan Watts, the team carried questions into this season about how they would replace their production.
“The season is going about how we expected it to go,” head coach Steve Sutherland said. “Our pitching and defense has carried us through a lot of the tight games. Some of our new guys had big shoes to fill and have really given similar production to the four guys we had graduate last year who went on to play college baseball.”
Still, the Cats have their work cut out for them, as the playoffs are fast approaching. Sitting in the thick of a high-flying region, the Cats will have a strenuous path once the postseason arrives.
“We are going to have tough competition in the playoffs, so the adversity we went through is going to prepare us for that,” Chan said.
Up next for the Cats is their last four games left in the regular season, starting Wednesday with a rematch against the B-CC Barons, who crushed the Cats 13-2 in the first matchup. With a win, they would move ahead of the Barons to first place in the region. Afterwards, they have scheduled contests against Gaithersburg, Seneca Valley and Richard Montgomery.
