Baldwin’s esports Overwatch 2 team defeated Pennfield Senior High School 3-1 on Tuesday and is now advancing to the semifinals.

The team was confident going into the game, but their teamwork eventually led them to take the win.

“We played really well. We played together,” senior Laeth Salih said.

The Highlanders had lost early in the season to Pennfield. But Baldwin got off to a great start on Tuesday, which led them to eventually the win.

“We knew we could beat them, especially after … taking a 2-0 lead,” Salih said.

The third map was the only setback, as the team lost focus and could not take the sweep.

“We should have had game three on locks, but we ended up getting too cocky and sold the map,” Salih said.

Despite that, the team bounced back in the fourth game to secure the win. A big part of that came from junior Katlyn Pracel, the team’s main support, who made a key play late in the match. 

“She ended up making crazy plays,” Salih said. “She ended up killing their tank, which led us to win.” 

Senior Zach Czapko also highlighted Kaitlyn’s performance.

“She had some really clutch plays,” Czapko said. 

Moving forward, the team needs to work on their communication in tough situations.

“If we are in a bad headspace, we need to keep talking to each other because that’s what caused us to lose that third game,” Czapko said.

The team will now play Apponequet Regional High School from Massachusetts in the semifinals on Thursday. They are now only two games away from winning the championship.