 | | | Trevin Kroichick Photo Gint Federas | | | | | | Coming into the championship game, having won its last six games, the No. 2 seeded Campolindo baseball team ran into a buzz saw, losing to the ninth seeded San Marin Mustangs by a score of 8-0. The Cougars' pitching had only given up 10 hits over the same six-game stretch, but starting pitcher Will Bishop and relievers Kyle Mizell and Evan Yamamoto gave up a total of 14 hits while the defense uncharacteristically committed five errors.
Bishop, who was coming off a no-hitter in his last outing, began the game strongly striking out the side in the first inning but gave up six runs in the next two and one-third innings, three of them earned. Said Bishop, "I just left too many balls over the plate."
Campolindo was shut out for only the second time this season. San Marin pitcher, senior Matt Lozovoy and reliever Tyler Abell, held the Cougars to seven hits, stranding several runners throughout the game.
Despite the number of errors committed by Campolindo, second baseman Trevin Kroichick made a leaping grab and third baseman Ryan Regan threw a man out at home to prevent further runs from scoring. Regan also led the Cougars' offense with three of the team's seven hits.
After a dominating six-game stretch, the Cougars came up short in all areas. Campolindo head coach Max Luckhurst summed it up simply: "Baseball is a funny game. They made the adjustments on the field and we didn't." Still, Luckhurst was full of praise for his team, telling his players to hold their heads high and to appreciate what they accomplished, particularly the seniors. "I will be forever proud of this team. With nine graduating seniors (six of whom were starters), they provided great leadership for our underclassmen. They set the example on how to work and compete. To win six games in a row just to get to the NCS title games was a big turnaround for us. Last year we were two games short of the championship and this year we came up one game short. It's most important for next year that our underclassmen know how to compete."
Kroichick credited San Marin for playing well but "the game was disappointing. We hit several balls hard and we did not play defense as well as we were accustomed to doing."
Bishop, who will be attending the University of Washington next year, spoke for himself, though he could have been speaking for the team: "It was just not my day."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA