Coming into the first round of their Central Coastal Section playoffs as the No. 14 seed, the Vikings (7-8-0, 14-3-1) were looking to upset the heavily favored Leigh High Longhorns (16-5-0, 22-9-0) with a barrage of hits and solid fielding. Many thought that the Thursday game would go differently as renowned high school sports Web site http://www.Maxpreps.com predicted the game to finish 10-4 in Leigh High’s favor.
The Vikings entered the game having overcome one coaching change, two academically ineligible players, a player ejection, and two mid-season player exits. In spite of this, the Vikings had a positive outlook.
As junior Will Holder rounded third and ran for home early in the first, the Palo Alto Vikings looked as if they would give the heavily favored No. 3 seed Leigh High a run for their money. However, after being tagged out inches before scoring, it seemed like Paly had run out of luck just minutes after the game started.
As junior pitcher Matthew Tracy walked towards the mound, he scarcely could have predicted the onslaught of hits Leigh High would soon accumulate. After junior starting pitcher Steven Burke had been ruled ineligible midway through the season, Tracy stepped in and guided the Vikings to several key victories. These victories would eventually allow Paly to slip into the CCS tournament with an at-large bid.
However, in 107-degree heat, Tracy struggled throwing strikes and gave up four runs in half of the bottom of the first. The onslaught began with Tracy’s second opponent, as Leigh High junior Travis Velo ripped a home run that cleared the fence and disappeared out of sight. The next five batters all gave Tracy trouble as he gave up two singles and three doubles, allowing Leigh High to bring in four runs.
“I don’t think it really mattered who we put on the mound,” junior outfielder Michael Rizza said. “They were going to score that many runs regardless of what we threw at them.”
Paly head coach Peter Colombo moved Tracy to third and replaced him with senior first baseman Will Goodspeed. Down 4-0 halfway through the first, Goodspeed gave up five singles, bringing the score to 9-0. The three outs in the inning came on two excellent catches and a strikeout. One catch came from junior outfielder Colin Byrne and another from senior second basemen Kevin Johnson.
With Colombo urging his players to keep playing hard, the second inning followed the first’s criteria for Paly, as the Vikings were again held scoreless. However, on defense, Goodspeed pitched extremely well as Leigh High scored no runs. Johnson and Byrne again made excellent catches to keep the Vikings within nine.
“Their pitching was extremely good,” Byrne said. “We expected them to be really tough on defense, but what the pitcher threw caused us a lot of problems. As for our defense, our fielding wasn’t all that bad, their hits just kept dropping into the gaps.”
In the third inning, the Vikings opened up with three straight singles and a double by sophomores Joc Pederson and Scott Witte, Holder, and Goodspeed, allowing both Pederson and Holder to score. Now only down by seven, the Vikings seemed to be mounting a comeback. But Leigh High still needed their chance to bat. Goodspeed quickly gave up four runs on three singles and two doubles, as the Longhorns’ bats stayed hot. Now down 13-2, the Vikings were facing elimination by the 10-run rule with the fifth inning approaching.
In the fourth inning, the Longhorns retired Paly batters with three quick strikeouts. Then, the Vikings opened up with a new pitcher, senior Robbie Heeger, thanks to the scalding heat. Heeger followed the path of Tracy and gave up five runs, effectively ending Paly’s attempt at a comeback. The Vikings scored two more runs, bringing the final score to 18-4.
With their exit from the playoffs, the Vikings clearly have plenty to work on, but can take consolation in the abundance of young talent deep within the roster. The emergence of sophomores Connor Raftrey, Wade Hauser, Witte, Pederson, Geoff Dodson and freshman T.J. Braff has given Colombo plenty to work with in the coming years.