Trojans dominate varsity baseball

BLAZER FIELD, April 29 —

Varsity baseball (4-11) lost 1-14 to the Gaithersburg Trojans (11-4) in the first five innings of the game, where the team lost under the mercy rule because they were down 10 points after five innings. After the first two innings the Blazers were loosing 0-8 and were not able to pull themselves out of a deficit that early in the game.

The Trojans jumped to a quick 3-0 start at the top of the first inning after junior Billy Cullen hit a left field homerun with two bases loaded. The Blazers responded when juniors Lucas Babinec and Ben Buchholz both hit singles; however, the next three at bats all resulted in outs, two of them being strikeouts.

The Blazers' worst defensive performance came in the second inning when the Blazers were not able to capitalize on routine plays to get the Trojans out. Gaithersburg junior Mike Toomer started off the inning with a single because the Blazers couldn't quickly get the ball to first base. With bases loaded, the Blazers were not able to catch a pop fly hit by Cullen resulting in two Gaithersburg points. The Trojans also successfully bunted the baseball which the Blazers could not field in time.

Head coach John MacDonald was not happy to see these opportunities missed. "We have to make these plays and when you don't it comes back to haunt you,” he said. In comparison, the Blazer's second inning resulted in three consecutive outs. Gaithersburg's quick start, MacDonald said, was what ultimately allowed them to win. "It's demoralizing to be down by a lot of runs early,” he said.

Gaithersburg's successful hitting throughout the whole game allowed them to score in every inning. In the end, Gaithersburg ended up with 15 hits, four of them being triples and one of them a homerun. Blair had just four hits.

The Blazers only score came in at the bottom of the third when senior Alex Egber's high hit to the outfield which was caught, allowed junior Sammy Denenberg to score from third base. However, at that time, the Blazers were already down nine.

Poor pitching haunted the Blazers in the final inning. With two outs, the Trojans were able to get three additional points from four consecutive walks.

In order to win games in the future, MacDonald said the team needs to execute better starts and play more consistently. "Game after game we are playing come-from-behind baseball,” he said. "We have to play seven innings of smart baseball.” The team hasn't had a healthy team all year but that is no excuse for losing, MacDonald said. "You have to play with the guys that are here,” he said.