Blair loses to Sherwood in first conference game

On Friday, April 22, the Blazers faced off against the Sherwood Warriors with improved hitting and a determined attitude, but ultimately fell short of a win.

Sherwood started off the game with lackluster hitting. At the bottom of the first, Blair hit well and left runners in scoring position. However, at the very top of the second inning, Sherwood hit a home run. Blair went on to give up three more runs, leaving the score 4-0 at the top of the second.

While the Blazers continued getting hits, they struggled to translate them into runs. Sherwood, by contrast, built up momentum, loaded the bases, and managed a weak base hit to raise the score to 5-0. Sophomore shortstop Sebastian Guzman made a leaping catch to end the inning. 

Sherwood continued their momentum into the fourth, scoring four more runs.

A pitch in the dark

Photo: Senior pitcher Emmanuel Kraft throws a pitch under the floodlights.

Senior pitcher Emmanuel Kraft throws a pitch under the floodlights. Photo courtesy of Ethan Zajic.

But Blair didn’t let the daunting lead keep them off their game. Junior Aidan Niemerski scored Blair’s first run in the bottom of the fourth.

As the game continued, Sherwood’s offense was unabating. Another three runs in the bottom of the fifth raised the score to 12-1, and as soon as the inning was over, the game ended due to the mercy rule. This rule states that if one team is over 10 points ahead of the other after 5 innings, the game ends.

Although the game was a loss, assistant coach Bryce Shemer viewed his team’s performance against Sherwood as an improvement. “Especially seeing what we were last year against Sherwood [compared] to now, we have definitely improved,” Shemer said.

Junior Bryan Robinette, who has also faced Sherwood, has learned that persistence is key. “We’ve seen these guys a lot over the past few years, so [our mindset was] to keep fighting [and] keep grinding,” Robinette said.

The Blazers’ next game will take place against Richard Montgomery High School at 3:45 p.m. on April 27th.