ATHERTON—There was no shortage of opportunities for Christopher in its Central Coast Section quarterfinals matchup against Sequoia. The Cougars got seven runners on, five into scoring position and three stood 90 feet from home plate—but none made it home.
Christopher’s school record setting season came to an end with a 3-0 loss to the No. 3 seeded Cherokees at Sacred Heart Preparatory in Atherton Saturday. The Cougars got three hits—including two doubles—on Sequoia’s tough Cameron Greenough, who boasts a 8-3-1 record with an 1.96 ERA.
“We had chances in every inning. We had runners in scoring position in every inning,” Cougar coach Ryan Dequin said. “The guy was a good pitcher. We have a good group that was battling all game. I didn’t feel at one point that were we out of this game. …Our kids fought and battled and it just didn’t turn out our way—that’s baseball.”
This was only the second time Christopher had reached the postseason in its young history and the first that it made it past the first round. While they would’ve liked to go further, senior captain Ricky Suarez said this season sets a new standard for future Cougar teams.
“Going into this game we knew it was big; we knew it meant a lot,” he said. “If we win we play another game; if we lose we don’t. For the younger guys it means a lot—next year they’ve got to try and get further than we did this year.”
The Cougars started the game with a two-out double by Makaio Duyao in the first and another by Josh Wheat in the second, but were unable to capitalize on them. The Cherokees got their offense going in the bottom of the second with a leadoff double, a single and a sacrifice to drive in a run for a 1-0 lead. A walk put runners on first and second, but the Cougars played smart defense with a fielder’s choice and fly out to end the inning with two Cherokees on base.
Sequoia put up two more runs in the bottom of the third. A walk and a double put runners in scoring position for the home team and a single brought both home, but that’s all the Cherokees could muster up.
Brian Easton was handed the loss on the bump. He allowed three runs on three hits, two walks, a wild pitch and struck out one through three innings of work.
Christopher’s season was full of up and downs. After going on a six-game winning streak in March, the Cougars proceeded to lose their next five and win the following three. At times it was an emotional rollercoaster, but senior captain Nathan Bonsell said he and his teammates learned a lot from it.
“All the work we’ve put into the past four years has come down to this moment. It’s been great. I don’t regret a moment of it, it’s been great,” Bonsell, who is one of 10 graduating seniors, said. “I took away (from the season) the fact that baseball goes up and down. We were a very streaky team this year.
We had a lot of wins and a lot of loses in a row. The fact that we came out of it and were able to pull this off makes me very proud of everyone that participated this year.”
Christopher ends the season with a 15-13 overall record, 9-9 in Monterey Bay League play.
