The Vikings varsity baseball team hit big in the late innings of its 12-7 comeback over the Cupertino Prospectors Friday, after being down 7-3 in the third inning.
But Paly coach Dave Jefferson felt that attitude was key to the victory.
“We just continued to believe,” Jefferson said.
That believing helped Paly string together a two-out, five-run rally to take 9-7 lead in the fourth inning, with big hits from seniors in the heart of the batting order. Senior first baseman Will Goodspeed sparked the effort with a double off the left field wall that drove in a pair. He later scored on a base hit to center field by senior outfielder Kevin Johnson. Senior catcher Peter Abrams drove in the tying run with a triple to left and bolted home for the go-ahead score on a dirtball that spun away from Cupertino’s catcher.
“Once we got around the order and saw all the pitches he was going to use, we knew we could hit him,” Abrams said.
The inning was a stark change from the start of the game, which saw Paly junior pitcher Steve Burk retire the first two Prospectors quickly but then surrender three runs on a walk, an error and two Cupertino base hits.
Paly countered with two of its own runs on a double by junior first baseman Will Holder to pull within one score. Holder attempted to score two batters later but was thrown out after colliding with the Cupertino catcher. The umpire appeared to warn Holder about colliding with catcher as Holder walked back to the Viking dugout. After the Cupertino coach came out from his dugout to protest, the umpire ejected Holder after judging the collision to be dangerous. According to CIF rules, Holder will also have to sit out the Vikings’ next game because of the ejection. Asked if he would appeal the call or the game, Jefferson indicated he would likely not.
“I’ll lose,” Jefferson said, “I back my boys 100 percent but I know that in this situation I’ll lose.”
Cupertino took advantage of Paly’s cooled momentum to hang three more runs on Burk, again with two outs. Burk struck out two batters at the top of the Prospector lineup but then gave up a three-run home run to right field to put Cupertino up, 6-2.
Burk settled down after that, limiting Cupertino to just one more run, and retired Cupertino in order in the third and fifth innings. Burk pitched the complete game and did not allow a hit in the final three Prospector innings.
“I had to go out there and give him a few choice words,” Jefferson said, ” but he just made adjustments and continued to believe in himself and throw pitches accordingly to the hitter.”
The Vikings added three insurance runs in their half of the sixth on three straight singles, again from Goodspeed, Johnson, and Abrams. Paly took advantage of an overthrow on Abrams hit to bring in Goodspeed and Johnson. Jefferson said that aggressive base running played a big role in the win.
“It’s always been part of the strategy,” Jefferson said, “It’s just getting guys on to be able to do it and so I’m very aggressive on the base paths.”
Jefferson felt that the Vikings, who are 3-4 overall but 2-1 in league play, are off to a strong start.
“We just believed and we worked really hard and I’ll stick by it,” Jefferson said. “We’re a good team and we’re right there.”
The Vikings take on the Prospectors again Friday in Cupertino at 3:30 p.m.
Editor’s Note: The grades of Steven Burk and Will Holder were changed from senior to junior after publication.