Baseball bounces back with a win

A heartbreaking 5-1 loss to Beverly Hills High School at home on Tuesday, April 25 did not knock Samo’s baseball team off their game. Instead, the Vikings retaliated by fighting back and coming out on top on Thurs. April 27—crushing the Normans 4-1.The rivalry series opened at Samo with Ryan Bunting (’18) on the mound. As Beverly took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning, Samo was unable to keep up, ultimately leading to a frustrating defeat. “Losing at home felt terrible,” Mateo Gonzalez-Drake (’17) said. “We should have beaten them, and I hate losing to them.”According to Dax Speakman (’17), there were a few key elements that played against them in the game.“We had some untimely errors that they took advantage of and the balls just weren't falling for us,” Speakman said.While the Tuesday game fell short, on Thursday, the Vikings were able to get their revenge on Beverly’s field, conquering them 4-1. There were some great differences from Tuesday’s game to Thursday’s, including the performance of Matthew Gutierrez (’19), one of the youngest players on the team. Speakman noticed the way he stepped up to challenge—helping the team take the win and exhibiting to Beverly that the Vikings have many more great years to come. “Matthew Gutierrez at [the] bat was the biggest momentum switches for us and set us up to score and take the lead,” Speakman said. “And our offense and defense ran smoothly and we stayed aggressive and never let up.”The team was able to make midweek adjustments against their opponent, and didn’t let a loss stop them from taking an overall victory. “Winning today felt good,” Gonzalez-Drake said. “Our chances of making playoffs are still intact and it’s good to get revenge, especially against a rival.”