Sequoia took the field at Oracle Park battling into extra innings before ultimately falling 4-2 to Half Moon Bay.

Just as the clock struck half past four, Sequoia junior Luke Ostrander stepped up to the plate leading off the historic Oracle Park ballgame for the Raven side. 

After a quiet start, Half Moon Bay got a 2-0 lead following fielding trouble in the bottom of the second inning from the Ravens. The next few innings went by quickly as both teams struggled to find the bases. 

Players credited the pitching with keeping the Ravens close following an early deficit. 

“I think Mays was definitely the biggest factor to our success,” Sequoia Junior Cole Hymer said. “He pitched five innings, he played so well. I feel like without him, we wouldn’t have played the game we had today.”

Then, in the top of the sixth Sequoia found their stride following a walk as Ostrander punched the ball into play leaving runners on the corners for first baseman Cole Hymer. Hymer would then hit a single to bat in a run making it 2-1. The rally would be cut short by a good catch on a promising line drive from senior Brandon Ackerhalt.  

Trailing early, Sequoia searched for momentum in the innings leading up to their sixth-inning rally. 

 “I think just getting that spark is important. We’ve lost the last three in a row, but we just have to try to find that spark when we’re down in the game, to really bring us together as a team,” Sequoia sophomore Oliver Connolley said.

The Sequoia side would carry their momentum into the seventh as a walk from Isaac Nayfack followed by a hit from Sequoia shortstop Connolley would set the Ravens catcher Connor Murray up for an equalizing hit into the gap. This left the score even at 2-2 at the end of the inning.   

Late in the game Sequoia was down and needed to make up runs. The whole team whether on or off the field had to rally. 

“I think the people that aren’t playing and in the dugout, even when around the field, are some of the most important people on the team,” Senior Mario Fausto said. “Those are the people that we rally behind. They start cheering, and they kind of get the energy going in the dugout. And energy is pretty contagious in baseball.”

Unfortunately, Sequoia would find themselves on the wrong end of the scoresheet as Half Moon Bay had bases loaded in extra innings and were able to close out the game winning 4-2. Even in a loss, the equalizing run in the late innings changed the game for the Ravens. 

“I mean, I had a great time just being there with all my guys. It was just a fun time coming back in the later innings. Just made it overall, just so fun to play,” Murray said. 

Although it was an unfortunate result for the Ravens, there was a great atmosphere at the ballpark and the game wasn’t the only competition at Oracle today. A fierce competition for foul balls played out between the ball boys of the two teams. The competition quickly escalated as the ball boy from Half Moon Bay began to chase balls near the Sequoia dugout forcing the Sequoia ball boy to respond. 

“We thought that that was not okay, so we had to show him,” Luke Johnson, ball boy and brother of senior Garrett Johnson, said. 

Luke Johnson would then go on to win a 50/50 ball at the center of the backstop with a sliding effort and later taunt the opposing ball boy when he beat him to the ball a second time.    

 

Following the game, the Ravens reflected and are looking forward to what lies ahead.

“We started off great. We’re on a four game losing streak, but I’m not worried. I think we’ll do well going into playoffs, we just have to build up some momentum,” Murray said.