Good season, bad day.
The Nazareth baseball squad lost 9-3 to LaSalle in the Catholic High School Athletic Association “A” division championship game on June 2, falling short of their championship aspirations. The Kingsmen lost both games in the two-game series.
A terrific season didn’t end the way hoped it would, but there was no one in particular to blame; Nazareth just didn’t have it when it mattered the most.
“It just wasn’t our day,” said Nazareth coach Oggie Quiles. “The last two games weren’t our best, but we fought and we had to fight hard.”
Early-game fielding miscues cost Nazareth; the Cardinals didn’t get a single hit through the first two innings, but three errors made by Kingsmen infielders in the second inning led to three runs for LaSalle, something Quiles mentioned after the game.
“The defense was a little shabby,” the coach said. “You have to play defense to win.”
LaSalle scored two more runs on a double and sacrifice fly in the top of the third inning, pushing the score to 5-0.
The Kingsmen’s bats woke up in the bottom of the third, when a triple by centerfielder Jordan Serrano knocked in leftfielder Shamariah McCullough to make the score 5-1, but that would be the only run Nazareth would score until the final inning.
In the fifth inning, LaSalle’s batters continued to hit, knocking in three more runs to make the score 8–1. In the top of the seventh, Cardinals third baseman Franklin Padilla smashed a triple to score leftfielder Jimmy Muniz to make the score 9–1.
The Kingsmen didn’t go down without a fight. In the bottom of the seventh and with the title in doubt, shortstop-relief pitcher Nicholas Castell hit a triple to knock in catcher Mike Silva. McCullough followed that up with a single to score Castell. But it was too little, too late; First baseman Andre Westbrooks struck swinging, and the Kingsmen’s season was over.
Nazareth won the title last season with a senior-heavy roster and had lost seven of their starters from last spring. This season ended in heartbreak, but Quiles was more than happy with his team’s performance overall, particularly after Nazareth’s struggles earlier in the season.
“We struggled out of the gate a little bit and they fought to get here,” he said. “We won nine, ten in a row to get here. I’m really proud of what they’ve done.”
is group of seniors that we have here this is their fourth [year] in the championship,” Quiles said. “I’m really proud of them for what they have done.”
