Coming into the game against Benilde St. Margaret’s, junior captain Kristofer Hokenson said the team was motivated by the school rivalry to get a victory.

“We were excited for the game and we wanted to beat them pretty badly. They’re a rival so we wanted to beat them, and our result wasn’t that, and next time we’ll get them,” Hokenson said.

After getting ahead 3-1 in the early innings, Park wasn’t able to keep up with a surge by Benilde’s offense, losing 9-5. According to head coach Brian Kelly, the team missed out on many opportunities to score.

“We felt like we had control when we were up 3-1, but it felt like we should’ve been at 5-1 or 6-1,” Kelly said. “Then they started getting some choppers and ground balls to get through and then they seized control and their pitcher was able to settle in.”

Both teams suffered from errors in the early innings, something junior Brady Walsh said was a result of a poor mind-game. 

“It’s a mental game,” Walsh said. “We’re out here, some people are scared, but we’re just getting ready for the season, it’s still super early so we can get ready (for the rest of the season).”

Benilde was able to rally after Park’s early lead, taking a 5-3 lead until the sixth inning, when junior Henry Odens tied the game with a two-run two-out single. According to Kelly, the fight put up by the team displayed the team’s potential.

“Henry Odens came up with a huge knock to tie it and steal momentum back from them, and it was a huge positive that two of our games we’ve lost late, we’ve come back and tied it and then lost,” Kelly said. “So it was kind of like ‘all right, there’s some positives.’”

After Benilde’s four-run seventh inning sealed the game, Hokenson said for the team to bounce back from a tough loss, the players have to move on and not dwell on past mistakes.

“We just have to pick up our teammates and after this last (game), we were kind of hard on ourselves, so we just huddled up and talked, and we’ll fix it next time,” Hokenson said.

Park will get a chance to turn around the momentum of the team in its next game at 6 p.m. April 23 at Dakota Park against Armstrong.