2008 Woodie Awards
Magical Season Ends with 10-8 Loss to Cypress
The Monarchs' Baseball fall in first round of regional playoffs after finishing first in the Western State Conference.
Sam Hahn
Issue date: 5/18/05 Section: Sports
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series on May 14-15.
"[The season] went great," said first-year head coach Dave Mallas. "We wanted to compete and I think that's what we did, and we did more."
The Monarchs finished the season 24-16 and made the regional playoffs for the first time in nearly 10 years after finishing 1-34 last season,
with a 6-101-1 record in the last four seasons.
Entering play Saturday, the Monarchs faced tough competition from Cypress (who won the state championship in 2003) and the Chargers jumped on sophomore pitcher Eddie Baeza.
The right-handed pitcher carried the Monarchs on the mound and in the field flexed a 10-0 record and a 1.05 ERA coming into the game.
But, he struggled as he gave up five runs in the first four innings of work.
Valley's lone run came the fourth inning as Baeza helped his own cause
by blasting a home run.
However, that was the only offense the Monarchs could muster as Valley
only managed eight hits and left eight runners on.
It was the same story on Sunday as sophomore pitcher Jorge Olmedo's (0 wins last season, 6-2 this season) effort was wasted by the bullpen.
The only pitcher returning from last season, Olmedo left leading 3-2 after five innings.
The Chargers jumped on relievers Adrian Bautisa by scoring six runs in the sixth inning to reclaim the lead 8-3.
Valley answered in the seventh with a four-run at burst highlighted by sophomore leftfielder DJ Lewis' two-run home run to cut Cypress' lead to 8-7.
The Chargers took a 10-7 lead into the top of the ninth inning after scoring a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
The Monarchs rallied in the ninth, but mustered just one run on a RBI single by Lewis.
"We had a great year, but we couldn't get it done today," said first baseman Matt Jordan.
"We had a great season, but it's sad to end it like this."
"Obviously, it's amazing what we accomplished this year," Mallas said. "We hope that it continues from here... we believe that [this season's success] wasn't a fluke."
Tears flowed as players embraced one another, including departing sophomores Baeza, Olmedo, and second baseman Robert Ninfo.
"It feels good to win," said a teary Olmedo. "We had a horrible season last year, and we battled every day. We set the bar this season, and I believe that this program will be very successful in the coming years."
