Junior Jack Witte hits a ball in a four run first inning, the Vikings won 6-5 after an unusual seventh inning.
– David Lim
The Palo Alto High School baseball team rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning to capture an exciting 6-5 victory over visiting Willow Glen High School on Monday at Palo Alto High School.
The Vikings (9-3-0, 17-7-0) started the game with a strong first inning, scoring four runs.
Senior center fielder Christoph Bono led off with a walk, and got to third via a single. After a passed ball by Willow Glen’s starting pitcher Justin Bruce, Bono stole home, scoring the Viking’s first run.
“Our first inning was great,” senior first baseman TJ Braff said. “We jumped on top of them, and then went into a lull. We let them stay around.”
Senior starting pitcher Drake Swezey pitched six dominant innings, before being relieved in the top of the seventh after allowing a home run and two runners to reach base.
Junior pitcher Ben Sneider came in relief but struggled to shut down Willow Glen. Sneider balked with a runner on third, giving Willow Glen the go ahead run. This put the Vikings down 5-4 before making it out of the inning.
“Errors are going to happen,” assistant coach Dave Goldman said. “It is the lack of focus like on the balk that was the most alarming to me, where perhaps nerves entered into it.”
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Vikings rallied back, with Bono leading the inning off with a walk. After two successful bunts, the Vikings had the bases loaded with no outs. The Willow Glen pitcher proceeded to hit Braff and senior catcher Will Glazier, resulting in both the tying and winning runs.
“I walked in the first at bat and scored and then the same thing in the end,” Bono said. “It is not every day that you see a game won on two hit batsmen.”
Going forward, in order to avoid allowing teams back into the game, Goldman emphasized the need for the Vikings to focus on the basics.
“We have to stop trying to hit home runs and just hit the ball and put it in play and push a runner or two across,” Goldman said. “That’s what let Willow Glen back into the game. The best thing was that they didn’t give up; they fought and came back and found a way.”
The Viking’s next game will be held at 3:30 p.m. today at Saratoga High School.