After a sluggish start in the first few innings of the game, it seemed like MVHS’ winning league record would be derailed by a frenzied effort by the Santa Clara High School dugout. However, holding true to the pattern of turning games around that they’ve been sticking to throughout the season, the Matadors gave fans at home something to watch. From a tie at 3-3, in the seventh and final inning, as sophomore Joshua Huang and senior Andrew Ding sent solid hits deep outfield, MVHS scored a final nail biting run to end the game in their favor.
On April 28, the Matadors hosted the SCHS Bruins at home and walked away with another league win at 4-3.
“We’d done well against them, so I knew it was going to be a close game no matter what,” senior Matthew Li said. “There’s like a history between [SCHS] and [MVHS], last year it got pretty heated, so we know every game is going to be pretty close.”
SCHS spent the first few innings capitalizing on MVHS’ errors. By the third inning, the Bruins used an MVHS mistake to score their first run. With a simple drive towards centerfield causing confusion in the SCHS outfield an off target throw to Huang slowed down the defensive play and allowed a run for the SCHS dugout.
“I didn’t really take much notice to it,” junior Allen Iwamoto said. “It was just an error, I mean nothing you can really do about it, we can’t control it. Everyone makes errors, it’s gonna happen.”
Although Iwamoto was the opening pitcher, senior Surya Kumaraguru took over by the sixth inning and began pitching, as the score was stacked against them at 0-3.
“I think they played better [because] we didn’t hit very well,” coach Robbie Hoffman said. “We played some defense, we pitched OK, but it was more of them really helping us out in [getting] the win.”
The sixth inning marked the turning point for the MVHS effort. Although senior Matthew Hui’s and sophomore Jarrett James’ efforts to level the score ended with two outs for the Matadors, the inning was still within reach. Iwamoto managed to secure a base hit through a grounder towards centerfield, and was able to steal second base after Huang hit a high ball that was dropped by the SCHS first baseman. As soon as Ding stepped up to the plate and sent a deep ball to centerfield, Iwamoto took off from second to put the first points on the board for MVHS at 1-3. Soon afterwards, Huang followed suit as senior Ryan Granzella’s foul was mishandled and the throw was stalled at second to allow Huang to steal home for another run for the Matadors at 2-3.
“We had to work hard for that last stretch,” Iwamoto said, “but it was definitely very, very good,”
Along with a final run by Ding, the inning drew to a close with the game tied 3-3. At the start of the seventh, tension began to rise in the stands as Kumaraguru ended MVHS’ tenure in the outfield with a strikeout, and two other outs thrown to first. In the last chance to get another win for MVHS, the Matadors came out to bat looking to start another push forward to gain momentum. Sophomore Sathya Kumaraguru got a single, with junior Brendan Hughes pinch running for him from first. With the rest of the hits, Hughes slowly worked his way around the diamond to score one last run for MVHS. James was walked to first, pushing Hughes to second, and a sacrifice fly from Hui gave Hughes a prime position to score from third base.
Although SCHS picked up their defense, the Matadors still managed to score one last run on them. Ding erupted for a grounder to left field, and Hughes finally was able to slide into home before an out at second base ended the game at 4-3 for MVHS.
“We never have to give up,” Li said. “I know throughout the year coming into the last couple innings, if you’re up by a lot or down by a lot your attitude can change a lot of times. But as you can see from this game, our team doesn’t really do that all the time. A little run here or there can change the game and change the momentum.”
Photos and reporting by Om Khandekar
The Matadors will play Mountain View High School at home on May 5 at 4:00 p.m.
