It was a tough day for the Paloma Valley High School baseball team as they lost 8-1 Friday against league foe Arlington.
The game started off well for the Wildcats (10-10) when Holden Pettit pitched two clean innings before Paloma Valley threatened to score in the bottom of the 2nd. An infield single from Elias Saenz, followed by back-to-back singles from Brendon Harper and Ryder Bland set the Wildcats up with the bases loaded and only one out. Unfortunately, Paloma couldn’t capitalize, grounding into a forceout at home and popping out to the shortstop.
Ryder Bland finished the game batting 2 for 3, the top performer for Paloma. Eight other Wildcats tallied a hit, including Landon Bowker, who went 1 for 3 with a single that drove in the only Wildcat run later in the game.
“We had 10 hits today, which is an improvement compared to Wednesday,” said coach Jason Berni. “Freshman Ryder Bland led our team with 2 hits. I’m happy for him. We just struggled to hit early in the game with runners in scoring position.”.
In the top half of the 3rd, Arlington took advantage of the Wildcats leaving the bases loaded. Two quick outs made it seem like Paloma would breeze through the inning, but an infield single started the trouble for the Wildcats. A wild pitch followed by a single saw Arlington get on the board first, and they were not done yet. A steal and yet another single to left allowed the Lions to double their lead at 2-0 before the Wildcats got out of the inning.
Paloma threatened again in the bottom of the third after a walk and a bloop single but could not string together any more hits to advance the runners and left them both stranded.
Entering the 4th inning, the Arlington bats stayed hot. A walk followed by a sacrifice bunt left the Lions with a runner in scoring position with only one out. That runner then scored on a single during the next plate appearance. A foul-out gave the Wildcats hope that they’d exit the inning only allowing one, but another walk and wild pitch gave Arlington the opportunity to put 2 on the board again and they did just that. After 4 innings, the Lions led 4-0.
Wyatt Smith came on in relief of Pettit in the 5th, giving up a run before Paloma finally was able to get on the board. A triple by Smith and a single from Landon Bowker made the game 5-1 and began the looks of a rally, but back-to-back strikeouts for the Wildcats put the inning to bed.
Pettit finished the game pitching 4 innings with 3 strikeouts, while Smith finished the last 3 innings for the Wildcats, striking out 1.
In the 7th inning, the Lions put an end to any thoughts of a comeback, utilizing small ball like they had all game to that point, before blasting a 3-run home run to right center field to make the game 8-1, the eventual final score.
Despite the tough loss, Berni responded with optimism after the game.
“We are young and we will be just fine. Today, we just simply got beat,” he said. “Holden Pettit and Wyatt Smith threw fine; it just didn’t go our way. The only thing we can control is the next game. I’m looking forward to our team finishing strong and hopefully finding our way into the playoffs.”
Paloma Valley looks to get back to winning ways and push for the playoffs when the Wildcats take on JW North Saturday at 11 a.m.
