Baseball game at CHS Field ends in disappointment

Park loses in extra innings to Benilde-St. Margaret’s

Josh Halper

Junior Anthony Odens pitches the ball toward home plate during Park’s game April 30 against Benilde St. Margaret’s.

Mimi Fhima and Izzy Leviton

Senior Liam Sivanich said although the team lost, the game on the CHS field was a great opportunity to play on a professional field.

Park lost 5-6 after the ninth inning against Benilde-St. Margaret’s on April 30, creating a 2-2 conference record.

“I wish the game would have gone a lot better. It would have been very uplifting to get a dub against Benilde at a nice field like this,” Sivanich said. “It was a fun experience despite some tough plays and a tough loss.”

According to baseball head coach Brian Kelly, the team played well but lost due to a few plays on Benilde’s part in the ninth inning.

“The game at CHS we played a really good baseball game outside of two or three plays in that one inning,” Kelly said.

Kelly said he discussed with the team going into the game against Bloomington Kennedy on May 2 with more confidence.

“We talked a little bit about to just having more of an edge today, a little chip on your shoulder, we’re all about the process but it’s a baseball game, get a little grit going,” Kelly said.

Sivanich said the team needs to work on fundamentals in practice to prepares for their next games.

“It’s not OK we gave up so many bundts and made so many errors. Those are simple plays that we shouldn’t be screwing up and we are screwing them up,” Sivanich said.

Kelly said the loss against Benilde was a result of poor follow-throughs in the last few innings.

“We’re just not executing late in the game. The first couple games we talked about it being a process and trying to make that process as good as possible and it’s to the point where we’ve got to execute. If you expect to win baseball games in varsity you need to execute,” Kelly said.

Sivanich said as he pitched the first three innings the team fell apart in the field.

“Pitching went okay. I had a rough, shaky first inning. The second inning went a lot better and then the third inning, I think what happened, was we made too many errors in the field,” Sivanich said.

Park won 2-1 against Bloomington Kennedy May 2 at Derrick Keller Field. Park plays a double-header against Bloomington Jefferson at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 4 at Derrick Keller Field.