Varsity baseball secures CCS bid following turnaround

Junior Shane Timmons prepares for a pitch during a game against Milpitas on April 20.

Of their nine most recent games, the Falcons have lost only two.

The baseball team secured a CCS bid following a comeback from early season hiccups. As of May 11, the team held an overall record of 12-10 and a 10-4 record in the El Camino division.

Of their nine games before May 11, the team lost only two of them, falling 3-2 to Evergreen Valley on April 29 in a non-league game, and 6-2 to Fremont on May 9. Prior to their loss against Evergreen Valley, the team piled up a 5-game winning streak, beating Lynbrook 4-0 on April 7 and defeating Milpitas 8-3 on April 18 and 6-1 on April 20. The Falcons trounced Monta Vista 15-2 on April 25 and 15-1 on April 27.

Senior captain Lucas Dennis, the Falcons’ top pitcher, attributed the team’s success in the second half of the season to improved hitting.

“We definitely picked up a lot of momentum midseason and I’m happy to see that it has lasted until now,” Dennis said. “We’re swinging, hitting and catching well, so everything is sort of coming together.”.

Despite losing their most recent game, the team has managed to secure a CCS bid as they rank second in league standings just shy of Cupertino. The Falcons will play their first CCS match on May 20 with seeding to be announced on May 15.

As for upcoming league games, the Falcons are left with Fremont to challenge and currently hold a 1-1 record against them this season. They will meet during the Falcons’ senior day on May 11.

For sophomore catcher Nathan Lee, who was recently promoted to varsity after the previous catcher who coincidentally shares the same name — junior Nathan Lee — injured his hamstring, the team has lived up to expectations coming from last year’s season. However, because the JV and varsity teams practice together, varsity members had to teach and advise freshmen who had never played competitive baseball before.

“Initially, we had to spend some time just teaching everyone how the game works,” sophomore Lee said, “But as the season has gone on, we have all adjusted to our individual challenges and have begun to work together a lot better.”

Coming off of such a strong season, sophomore Lee also found that the team has begun to get sloppy during practice.

“We’ve been doing so well that many people are now relaxing,” he said. “Though our next couple of games are seeming easy, we have to get back to our normal rigor and focus during practice if we want to make it to CCS.”