Great SHS sports moments: Walkoff winners take De Anza League Crown

With our backs to the wall, the 18 of us on the Falcon baseball team had nothing else to do but fight last May. Down 1-0 in the De Anza League championship series to the Wilcox Chargers in a best of three series, Game Two was win or go home. And we confronted our toughest challenge yet, coming from behind.

In the first game, we lost to Wilcox 2-1 on a walk-off hit. Pitcher Kyle Dozier threw well, but our offense was unable to score runs. 

“That game left a really bad taste in our mouth,” catcher  Stevie Berman said. “We wanted to come back on Thursday and make a statement.” 

Two days later, we played Wilcox again and led the Chargers 1-0 behind the dominant pitching of  Joey Medeiros until the sixth. In the sixth inning, the Chargers scored six runs before our defense recorded the third out.

In the bottom of the sixth, we scored two runs with timely hitting and strong base running, decreasing the Wilcox putting the score at 6-3. After Berman went out to throw a scoreless seventh inning, we had had three outs to score three runs, and that’s exactly what they did. 

The final half inning started with third baseman Stephen Ruff beating out a ground ball to shortstop. Next, Medeiros and Eric Ferguson reached base, outfielder Jacob Marr hit a single, scoring Ruff and Medieros and bringing us within one run of tying the game. Trevor Hanks was hit by a pitch, forcing the tying run home. 

With no outs and the bases loaded, I walked up to the plate. Already with two hits on the day, I was looking for a pitch up to hit into the outfield, but instead, I got the bunt sign. I was not that surprised because my head coach, Adam Varteressian had told me that I might be bunting. I got the sign and on the first pitch, a fastball up and away, I laid down a suicide squeeze bunt, bringing Marr home and winning the game.

“That day was magical,” Berman said. “Comebacks like that don’t happen every day. After that, our team felt pretty good going into Friday.” 

With the comeback in Game Two in the bag and all the momentum on our side, we routed the Chargers in the final game of the championship series, 6-1 and returned home with the De Anza League Crown.

Oliver Parr had a strong start, stymying the Chargers bats, while Berman and Ruff both hit home runs to lead the offense.

Game Two will resonate as one of Saratoga’s most memorable games in years. To come back down by five runs with only six outs was miraculous in itself. After the comeback, the Falcons had all the momentum in the series and went on to beat Wilcox 6-1 in Game Three.

For the Saratoga Baseball team, 2013  truly was a season of firsts.  It was the first time that the Falcons had won the De Anza League title, one of the hardest public school leagues in California.