On Thursday, April 3, the SCHS varsity baseball team competed in a league game against Monta Vista High School. Heading into the game, the Bruins were 6-1 within ranked play, in a heated competition with Fremont High School in the El Camino League. Now, after the 14-3 victory against the Matadors, they continue their race to first place with Fremont to see who qualifies for Central Coast Section playoffs.
Going into the game, head coach Pedro Martinez expected a close battle, similar to their faceoffs with MVHS in the past.
“We beat them the first time, but it was a close game, so it should be another good game,” Martinez said. “I expect our guys to come out ready to go firing on all cylinders.”
In the top of the first inning, MVHS controlled the game with an early double. Runners on second and third base allowed them to take a two-run lead before the Bruins had a chance to respond. In the bottom of the first inning, however, the Bruins started off aggressively. Within four batters, a single from senior Drew Diffenderfer gave senior Jaxton Chao the first run for SCHS. Still in the bottom half of the inning, a single from senior Gregorio Salgado scored a second run and tied the game at two apiece. According to Salgado, the team came into this game quite motivated.
“We were hungry. We wanted to win, especially after the last game,” Salgado said. “It wasn’t our best game, so I think we were very aggressive, wanted to come out here, score some runs.”
After holding the Matadors scoreless in the top of the second, the Bruins came out swinging in the bottom of the inning with seven runs. A single from senior Andrew Traffas started the rally, followed by a line drive from Diffenderfer that brought two more runners home on the next at bat. A double from Connor Houle scored Diffenderfer, giving the Bruins a 6-2 lead. Houle previously stated that the team focused on getting hits in this game, which they obtained plenty of.
“We had a drill where we would just focus on hitting it, just waiting, letting it get deep and then hitting it at the right spot,” Houle said.
Another double to right field from senior Charles Conley brought Houle home. In the next at bat, a double by Salgado brought another runner home, making it the fourth score in a row for a 8-2 lead. Salgado was the final player to score in the bottom half of the second inning after a batter was walked while the bases were loaded. Successful hitting was a clear focus of the game and particularly crucial to assistant coach Alan Bonvicino.
“Hit the ball, make it happen. Our goal is to score a lot of runs tonight,” Bonvicino said.
After another scoreless inning for MVHS, the Bruins put up four runs in the third. The next two innings saw no scores until the bottom of the sixth, where Salgado slapped a ball down the line to send Traffas home and extend their lead 14-2.
Although they were initially down 0-2 in the first inning, Bonvicino believes that it did not deter the Bruins, and they stayed motivated.
“Getting two runs behind, they knew they had a job to do and they did it, obviously, with the score tonight,” Bonvicino said. “They came in there. They were confident.”
Monta Vista scored one more run in the seventh inning before the game ended, with the Bruins winning 14-3. SCHS is second in their division, and their next league matchup will be against Fremont next Thursday. Salgado hopes that the Bruins can continue to bring their A-game for the Firebirds.
“We’ve been ready for them ever since they beat us,” Salgado said. “We wanna get back at them, so we’re ready now. We got the momentum.”