The Cardinal Newman Frosh Baseball Team faced off against the Analy Tigers on Saturday at Newman. The Cardinals were 4-2 heading into the game after a 12-0 win on Friday @ San Marin. Analy came into the game 1-2 and looking for a league win. The Cardinals did not started their regular starters on account of them playing a game less then 20 hours before first pitch against Analy. As a result, here was their starting 9:
Audel Madrigal delivered 2 good innings on the mound and had a good plate appearence where he got on base, and used his speed and smart baserunning to move over to 3rd, but he was left stranded as Analy's good defense retired the side. In the third, Madrigal walked 2 batters to open the inning and after 3 costly errors by the Newman defense, Analy had had 4 runners cross home. A triple brought the 5th home before Newman retired the side to head to bottom of the 3rd, down 5-0. In the bottom of the 3rd, Luke Munsell hit a routine grounder to the shortstop, but hustled to beat out the throw to first. Ethan Bowers bunted to the right side, allowing Munsell to advance. Munsell then got to third on a wild pitch and just like that, Newman had a runner 60 feet away from scoring. What followed was a great 2 out rally by Newman that brought 2 runners home and cut the lead to 5-2.
Newman completely switched their lineup in the 4th and sent out their regular starters as well as Dylan McReynolds to pitch. McReynolds delivered a 1-2-3 inning, a nice short inning Newman needed. The Cardinals rallied off of this, bringing 2 runners across the plate on a barrage of offense, cutting the lead to 5-4. McReynolds delivered another 2 scoreless innings but Analy held Newman scoreless in the 5th. What happened in the 6th was amazing. Jack Wedge got on base and moved himself over to third on a stolen base and passed ball. Adrien Rosiles came up and on a 2 strike pitch, he hit a grounder past the 1st baseman and into right field to bring Wedge home and tie the ball game. Legend Haile worked a walk and brought up Dylan McReynolds. Dylan powered a base hit and loaded the bases for Makai Fa'agata. Fa'agata hit a line drive over the head of the right fielder and into the corner. Rosiles scored, Haile scored and Reynolds scored. Fa'agata had just given the Cardinals the lead on a triple to right field. The Cardinals had just scored 8 unanswered to flip Analy's lead heading into the top of the 7th, the final inning. Analy came up and lead off with a triple, but McReynolds and the Cardinal defense was able to hold them off, winning 8-5 on an amazing comeback victory.
Then key to winning the game for the Cardinals was chemistry and patience. Every defensive play, whether good or bad, the Cardinals still kept good morale amongst their players. There was also good chemistry shown between the infielders on routine groundballs and the outfielders on flyballs. The Cardinals were able to pickoff runners at first and second on throws from the catcher and pitcher, something they had been working in practice all week. Newman showed discipline and patience at the plate, working the count and swinging at only pitches they liked. All of the Newman batters took close pitches that Analy batters swung on. 14 Newman plate appearences that had a 1-2 or 0-2 count at one point in the appearence resulted in walks and hits. Newman showed their good eyes drawing more than 10 walks during the game, mostly when the pitcher started the at bat with a first pitch strike. The Cardinals also had fantastic base running which allowed them to get more runs across the plate and get thrown out and picked off less then Analy. The Cardinals had great hustle and proved they would not go down easy. The future is bright for Cardinal Newman Baseball.
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