By Cate Meister
In the last non-league game of the season, the FVHS baseball team fought hard against Marina High School but ultimately fell short, losing with a score of 4-5 on Saturday, May 1.
The Barons had a slow start to the game, giving up two runs to the Vikings in the top of the first inning. The early two-point deficit was followed by a strikeout and then a double play to end the Barons’ offensive efforts in the second half of the inning.
Starting pitcher senior Chase Rousselo held the Vikings off in the second inning with the help of his teammates, pitching a strikeout followed by two outs. Sophomore Tim Grack closed the top of the inning with a leaping catch for the final out.
“Chase [Rousselo] did a good job today on the mound. He had a tough first inning…But all in all, I thought he gave us a chance to win,” head coach Deric Yanagisawa said.
The bottom of the second was mostly uneventful. After one out for the Barons, sophomore Jackson Johansen’s single proceeded two more outs to end the inning.
In the top of the third, Rousselo started off with a strikeout. Marina’s second batter hit a deep fly but struck out after a catch by junior Keith Aguilar. Finally, sophomore Tyler Arevalos finished with a third out by catching Marina’s line drive.
The team saw success in the bottom of the third inning, scoring three runs in total to bring the score up to 3-2. Senior Connor DeBenon kicked off the Barons’ rally with a ground ball to third base that resulted in a single. Aguilar’s line drive to left field pushed DeBennon to second base and put Aguilar on first. After attempts at bunting, Arevalos, the third batter of the inning, made it to first following a fielding blunder by Marina’s third baseman, leaving the bases loaded for the Barons.
The Vikings’ pitcher then walked Grack to first which allowed DeBenon to reach home, raising the score to 1-2 while keeping the bases loaded. The walk was followed by the first out of the bottom of the inning. Senior Braeden Miller achieved a base hit that put himself on first and pushed Aguilar to home plate to bolster the score to a 2-2 tie. Johansen’s successive grounder to left field brought Arevalos home for the third and final run of the inning but also resulted in Grack getting out. A final pop-up caught by the Vikings ended the inning at last.
The fourth inning was quick defensively, ending after three hitters with a strikeout, a flyout, and a wide hit to right field, respectively, signaling the continuation of Rousselo’s good pitching. Senior Evan Frink was first to bat for the Barons in the fourth inning. He bunted, resulting in a single thanks to an error by the first baseman. While DeBenon batted, Frink stole second when the catcher dropped the ball. DeBenon’s ground ball up the middle allowed him to reach first base and Frink to reach third. Arevalos hit a grounder that moved Frink home, which was preceded by a base hit from Aguilar. The inning concluded with a score of 4-2.
Rousselo’s pitching continued to keep the Vikings at bay in the fifth inning. After pitching two outs, the Vikings were able to achieve a triple. However, the top of the inning quickly ended when DeBenon caught a pop-up. It was also a brief inning offensively, with no Barons making it on base.
Senior Chris Thorne relieved Roussello in the sixth inning after the Vikings hit a single. A ground ball down the left line, which the umpire ruled was not a foul after some speculation, allowed Marina’s hitters to advance to first and third. A ground out pushed the runner from first to second while the other remained on third. A Vikings hitter then scored a double that pushed both runners to home, raising the score to 4-4. Later on in the inning, a Marina runner became caught in a pickle between first and second base that allowed their runner on third to steal home for a score of 4-5.
Only four FVHS hitters batted in the sixth inning. After two outs, Aguilar hit a slow ground ball to second that caused him to slide headfirst into first base. A caught line drive to second ended the inning with a final out.
Aguilar pitched during the seventh inning, not giving up any runs to the Vikings. Only one of the opponent’s hitters made it on base, Aguilar threw two outs and a strikeout. The bottom of the seventh was similarly quick. A series of fly balls caught for Marina’s fielders concluded the game for the Barons.
“These kids play hard. They show up every day. The amount of time that these kids put into this program should be commended by a lot of people because we ask a lot of our athletes,” said Yanagisawa.
The Barons’ next game will be against the Griffins at Los Alamitos High School at 3:15 p.m. on Tuesday, May 4.
