Coach Peter Colombo looks out at the Paly baseball diamond with frustration and anticipation. For the first half of the game, Colombo’s team has been narrowly trailing its opponent, Milpitas which has had a solid defense for five straight innings.

Junior Jeremy Gillan steps up to bat, with two outs and a player at first. The Milpitas pitcher winds up and throws a two-seam fast ball. Smack! Gillan drives the ball out to left field, stunning Milpitas, and allowing junior Adam Dexter to run home, tying up the game.

On Wednesday, April 23, Palo Alto’s baseball team beat Milpitas after five frustrating innings. After a disappointing loss to Milpitas on March 14, Paly overcame the team that had previously dominated them, 6-2.

Milpitas did an excellent job fielding for the first couple innings, while Paly’s defense on the other hand did poorly, stumbling a lot and missing catches.

The game started to turn in Paly’s favor during the 5th inning when the Vikings made a marvelous triple play, giving the team a boost in confidence for the rest of the inning. Gillan hit an amazing double to the left field, allowing fast runner Adam Dexter to run from first base to home, creating the turning point of the game, bringing hope into the hearts of Paly players and spectators.

In the 6th inning senior Ryan Baukol doubled, which brought enough time for junior Russ Hagemann and junior Shane Parsons to score two more runs, breaking the tie and helping Paly take the lead with a score of 3-1.

"We just made plays like we were supposed to, all the players did their part, and that’s what helped us win the game," coach Colombo said later as he glances proudly at his winning team.

Paly’s pitcher, senior Mark Wells, did an outstanding job preventing the Milpitas batters from scoring. Team captain Baukol said, "Wells deserve most of the credit for this game. He was just exceptional out there."