After narrowly winning their first playoff game, the Cavs are now 0-1 after losing 0-10 to Brookside Christian on May 16.
After ending the first inning down four runs, the margin between the Cavs and Brookside Christian continued to widen until the fifth inning, when a 0-10 score triggered the mercy rule and ended the game.
“They were one of the hardest teams we’ve ever had to face,” said senior Keegan Crain. “We played a lot better than how we have been playing lately, but we still weren’t as good as they were.”
According to Crain, the Cavs, despite the shutout, played a very good offensive game. The pitcher proved to be the easiest part of the opposing team for the Cavs to handle.
“The pitcher was actually hittable,” said sophomore Zane Jakobs. “He wasn’t throwing very hard.”
However, the problems arose after the ball was hit.
“The ball went right to their players almost every time,” said senior George Cvetich. “There were just no gaps in the infield. We couldn’t find the right position, but we made great contact.”
In fact, only five of the the team’s outs were from strikeouts, the rest, obviously, being from fielding.
And Brookside’s offense ultimately proved unstoppable.
“Our outfield was very busy,” Jakobs said. “Dominic (Stephen), Eric (Morfin-Ruiz) and Skovran (Cunningham), were being run around all game.”
The big hits combined with a few Cav errors allowed Brookside to pull ahead by a large margin, leaving the Cavs in the dust.
However, Cvetich stressed that this wasn’t due to the pitcher, senior Ethan Ham, whom he named the star of the game.
“Ethan was getting hit on very hard,” Cvetich said. “But he didn’t get mad, and he kept fighting. You can’t ask for more than that.”
Luckily the playoffs aren’t an elimination round, but a series. This means the Cavs play Brookside again on Tuesday, May 19. If they win the first game, a second game will immediately follow to determine the winner.
