Perfect Season Ended on Harsh Suicide Mission
by Matt Diogo ‘14
Single elimination playoff games can be cruel, suddenly ruining what had been an amazing season. The Warriors’ varsity baseball team entered the 4A West Regional Semi-Final game against the Churchill Bulldogs on May 18 riding 20-0 regular season and a No. 2 ranking in the metropolitan area by The Washington Post. They were the defending 4A State Champions and were favorites to win it all again. Then, just like that, the Warriors saw it all evaporate after a 2-1 loss to the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs struck first in the second inning, scoring a single run. Sherwood answered in the third when graduated senior Jake Stockinger doubled home graduated senior Joey Saah. The game then would see five innings of scoreless baseball, with Warrior starting pitcher, graduating senior Jamie Dejter, pitching strong. The two squads battled nine innings until Churchill rightfielder Matt Kogan pushed a run home on a suicide squeeze.
“It was definitely rough. It was a game where we didn’t really find a way to hit [opposing pitcher Kelby Spring],” said Dejter. Spring pitched eight innings and allowed only three hits to Sherwood for the game. Meanwhile, Dejter held the Bulldogs to two hits and only one earned run. The winning Churchill run was an unearned one, as the runner got into scoring position on a Dejter wild pitch.
Sherwood was favored to win states for the second year in a row, which makes the upset even more surprising. “We just didn’t hit the ball,” said Coach Bill Goodman. “It’s a shame the one game we lose all season had to be in the playoffs.” Their first game of the season was against, Churchill, which the Warriors won 2-1.
The first playoff match-up was against the Wootton Patriots, a rain-struck game that featured a two-hour rain delay. Prior to the delay, The Warriors had scored four runs in their half of the first inning, and then the delay came and washed out the field. The Warriors scored two more runs, but then in the final inning, Wootton started a comeback, scoring four runs. Sherwood held on for the 7-4 victory. Two days later, they fell to Churchill who subsequently lost to Gaithersburg by a score of 8-3. The 4A championship ultimately was claimed by Westminister in a 8-7 win over Severna Park.
Over the offseason, Sherwood graduates 11 players, including eight starters. Next season will bring a lot of new faces to the squad, but could also bring back a few from the team this season. Starters Adam Abramson, Jake Stockinger, Danny Hunt, Nathan Craft, Mike Sarecky, Joey Saah, Drew Knapp, Will Bouey, Jamie Dejter and Anthony Papio are among the graduating seniors on the team. Catcher Colin McMahon is the only returning starter with Tyler Rodriguez, Daniel Bower, Matt Chanin, Edilier Peguero and Charlie Rogers anchoring next year’s team that looks to build on this year’s regular season’s success.