When the Falcons were down 2-0 against Milpitas at home on March 27, sophomore southpaw pitcher Aiden Chen knew he wasn’t playing to his full potential.
“With everyone watching when I was pitching, I was getting a bit nervous and second guessing myself,” Chen said. “I had a harder time throwing strikes than I usually do and felt less in control.”
However, Chen and the team settled down as the game progressed and started executing better offensively and defensively. Heading into the seventh inning, they were down 2-1, but Milpitas jumped on a few poorly executed pitches by sophomore relief pitcher Samanyu Ram, resulting in a 5-1 loss for the Falcons.
After three league games — the 5-1 loss to Milpitas, a 5-0 home loss to Cupertino on March 16 and a 10-5 win in an away game over Monta Vista on March 23 — the baseball team, coached by Vinny Augustine, holds a 1-2 record, placing them third in the El Camino League as of March 31.
Consistent rainy weather has also made it tough to practice or play games. Two games were rescheduled and one game and three practices had to be canceled.
The team’s losses have disappointed a group that expected to win early and often. Knowing that the team could have performed better during games, Chen believes if each player puts in the time and effort for extra reps and keeps focus, they will be able to turn their season around.
“I also think once the weather and chaos settle down and we start to get to know our opponents a little bit better, we will be able to perform a lot better,” Chen said.
Junior pitcher Shane Timmons said the team’s recent losses were against teams that they could have beaten. In each game, he felt the team was making easily avoidable mistakes, including not fielding catchable ground balls, fly balls or not making the right plays.
With an already small 15-man roster, key players are out battling injuries. Ram has had periodic shoulder problems, junior catcher Nathan Lee has been unable to play games due to a thumb injury, sophomore outfielder and infielder Doug Bettinger is currently recovering from labrum surgery and senior catcher and outfield Max Timmons sustained a labrum injury and is out for the rest of season.
The Falcons are counting on their ace pitcher Lucas Dennis to better improve their performance for their upcoming games and make CCS.
“We have to start hitting better and stop making [individual] errors [to succeed in our games],” Timmons said. “We know what we have to do and I know we can win [and have a successful season].”
