In a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Sequoia’s varsity baseball team took the field at Oracle Park on May 1st, getting a taste of the big leagues as they played and coached from the San Francisco Giants’ home dugout.

While Oracle Park has hosted a few high school baseball games since finishing construction in 2000, the number of high school teams given this opportunity has been limited. Recently, the Giants expanded their high school program to include more games between local high school teams. These games are played during the Giants’ season, so the field is prepared for Major League Baseball. According to varsity baseball head coach Mike Doyle, Sequoia secured a game day at Oracle Park by selling 1,000 tickets to less-attended Giants games.

While the game ended up being a loss for Sequoia 3-2, the team took Half Moon Bay to extra innings for a true battle to the end. With consistent and skilled playing by the Sequoia team, Half Moon Bay struggled to gain an upper hand until the final inning with the bases loaded.

The magnitude of playing at Oracle was not lost on the Sequoia team, the team considered this a dream come true. “It gave me a lot of adrenaline, because it was like such a cool experience,” Logan Dietrich said. “The field looks so much bigger when you’re watching as a fan, and then you’re on it, it’s like very, very small.”

Most players had a similar experience to Logan, as they had watched numerous games at this same park, making this a very prestigious event for all participants. 

“It was exciting to see Oracle as a player, it was so cool seeing the big S on the screen [Jumbotron], seeing Sequoia up there,” Junior Matthew Biggs said. “For batting, we actually hit where they have the bullpen and that was pretty cool.” 

The atmosphere was celebratory for fans and players alike. The event highlighted a unique milestone for the student-athletes, offering them a taste of the big leagues.

“The backstop was filled with parents and friends just excited to see their kids play on the same field where they usually watch their favorite professional players,” Raven Report reporter Henry Giardi said.