The saying “All is well that ends well” can surely be applied to the Palo Alto Vikings’ baseball team this year. In what has been a wild season of roster changes, team personnel challenges and sporadic playing, the Vikings are looking forward to their first Central Coast Section playoff berth, a season-long goal of the team.
“Everyone on the team is just relieved to be in the playoffs,” junior right fielder Michael Rizza said. “We struggled a little bit during the middle of the season, but ended on a very strong note.”
One coaching change, two academically ineligible students, two player ejections, two mid-season player defections, an abysmal start to the season and a five-loss streak to close league play have all plagued the Vikings’ 2008 season.
However, the Vikings showed tenacity and finished with an eight game unbeaten streak in the league tournament. Thanks to their impressive showing, Paly was the final team entered into the playoffs. They finished 14-12-1 overall.
After being ousted from an automatic playoff spot in the last week of league play, the Vikings snuck into the playoffs via an at-large bid. Their non-league wins, coupled with wins over strong league opponents, helped them achieve this.
The Vikings’ playoff quest was aided by the jump of six teams to the division one bracket, opening up spots for teams like Palo Alto. Carmel, St. Francis, Bellarmine Prep, Archbishop Mitty, Junipero Serra and Valley Christian SJ all made the switch. Aptos is the favorite for the Division II tournament, and is arguably the reason so many teams played up this year. Aptos features five Division I prospects, including pro-pitching prospect Kevin Eichorn.
The Vikings are seeded 14th in the tournament and will play the No. 3 seed, Leigh High (22-8), of South San Jose Thursday.
“The 14th seed is nice to have,” junior starting pitcher Matt Tracy said. “We have nothing to loose and everything to prove. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want to win.”
Tracy will most likely be the starting pitcher on Thursday. His 2-0 record as a starter has earned him the spot. Tracy has allowed one earned run over his last 12 innings pitched.
“Tracy has definitely earned the start,” junior infielder Oliver Davies said. “No team has proved they can hit him lately. He’s really given a boost to our pitching.”
Numerous junior varsity players have been called up to fill the voids in the Paly line up in recent weeks. Underclassmen Connor Raftery, Jeff Dodson, Sam Maliska, and T.J. Braff have all impacted the varsity roster in the second half of the season.
While Raftery and Maliska have been used as substitute outfielders, Dodson received the pitching start in Friday’s victory over Milpitas. The team received another blow when, earlier this week, Braff went down with a serious laceration to his left leg. Braff will be out for the rest of the season, making him the sixth starting player to be sidelined.
While Paly will surely struggle with a depleted roster, Leigh High can look forward to a tough game against the surging Vikings. Leigh High finished with an impressive 21-9-0 overall record, but is coming off of a 2-10 blow out loss to Westmont. Nevertheless, the Vikings will need to be at their best to compete.
“What we need to look out for is their starting pitcher’s fastball,” junior outfielder Colin Byrne said. “He throws it in the high 80s, so our offense could run into some trouble.”
Palo Alto plays away at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 15 at Leigh High.