The boys baseball team lost in the playoffs to Moon Area High School on Tuesday, 17-1.
Freshman Gavin Stock said the team started falling apart midway through the game and could not build themselves back up.
“We started to get negative and lose confidence. It really just looked like we were burned out,” Stock said.
Junior Aiden Robinson said that picking up each other was a struggle for the Highlanders throughout the season.
“There are always those four or five guys in the dugout that pick up everyone and that helps the team,” Robinson said, but the team needed more.
Moon played a very good game, Robinson said. Their pitcher threw a lot of strikes, and their offense was strong. Moon hit four home runs with runners on base each time.
“Moon hit very well,” Robinson said. “All of them can hit.”
For the Highlanders, Robinson played a good game and showed a lot of leadership on the field, Stock said.
Senior Nico Macurak and freshman Gavin Stock also played well.
“Nico had a nice game defensively and hit the ball well as well,” junior Tyler Geary said. “Gavin Stock went two for three at the plate.”
The loss to Moon ended the Highlanders’ season and extended their losing streak to seven games, dating back to the end of the regular season. Throughout that streak, the team tried focusing on the small details.
“Our main focus was to do the simple things,” Geary said, “as well as keeping the energy through the whole game, no matter the score.”
The team went into the games with a lot of energy until one bad inning, and the team would shut down, Geary said.
Though the season has come to a sudden end, Baldwin played some great games this year, especially when section games began.
“We turned around and realized we have to lock in for the section games because those are bigs and would help us with playoffs. That’s when our defense came alive and won us some games,” Stock said
The team played with a lot of energy in those section games, Robinson said.
“It pushed us more to win. We just kept the energy high even through tough times when we were down,” Robinson said
The Highlanders played strong throughout the season but lost momentum towards the end, going into the playoffs, Geary and Sturges said.
Looking to next year, the baseball team has two key underclassmen, Stock and sophomore Hudson McKain, who have really proved themselves throughout the entirety of the season, Robinson said.
