Varsity Baseball loses first playoff game

BLAZER FIELD May 14 —

Varsity baseball lost to the Gaithersburg Trojans (15-6) in the first round of the playoffs 4-1, ending their season with a record of 5-15. The game, according to head coach John MacDonald, was similar to many previous games — the Blazers weren't able to make the right plays at the right time.

The Trojans got on the scoreboard first, in the top of the second inning. With two outs, Gaithersburg hit a fly ball between right field and second base that the Blazers weren't able to catch, allowing the Trojans to remain on offense and score the two runs. Senior co-captain, Alex Egber called the play a turning point of the game as it allowed the Trojans to get an early start. "We had the chance to get out of that inning with no damage,” he said. However the Blazers weren't able to capitalize.

The Blazers' sole run came in the third inning when junior Lucas Babinec's single batted in junior Pierce Marston. After the run, with bases loaded and only one out, the Blazers were in a good position to score, but the following two plays resulted in a caught fly ball and a strikeout. Throughout the game the Blazer offense struggled to get hits because of good pitching from Trojan junior Billy Cullen. As the game wore on, Blair continued to struggle on offense. After Babinec's hit, Blair managed to hit the ball only once.

In the sixth inning, a dropped ball on first base and fielding issues gave the Trojans the opportunity to score two additional runs and make the score 4-1. The Trojans ended Blair's chances of a comeback in the final inning after barely getting a double play and throwing a strikeout.

Senior pitcher Sammy Denenberg had another strong performance, but it wasn't enough to keep the season alive. He struck out eight Gaithersburg players and forced many fly balls but the Blazers ultimately lost because of problems with fielding and hitting, MacDonald said. "We didn't play all three facets of the game well,” he said.

Egber described the year as disappointing because of the team's high expectations at the beginning of the season. "We thought we had a good core group of players,” he said "But, we never made it really happen.”

Despite the team's unsuccessful year, there were some strong individual performances throughout the season, MacDonald said. Denenberg finished off the season with 69 strikeouts, a Blair single season record under MacDonald. Babinec, who lead the team in batting, had 32 hits and a .516 batting average, both new school records.