After a wild first round of the playoffs, the baseball team fell to Blake May 12 by a score of 7-1. The second round also had its share of oddities-the game was postponed in the middle of the fourth inning May 11 and bumped back a day with CHS already trailing 7-0.

The baseball team found itself in a huge hole when play was continued on the second day and showed that they had run out of gas after an impressive first round game against Wootton. CHS was shut out by Blake with the exception of a sixth inning sacrifice fly by senior captain Alex Goodman to score junior Jordan Siegel.

“Not many people came out like they wanted to play,” junior captain Bryce Shemer said.

Though the season may not have ended the way they wanted, there was some excitement at the end of the year as they shocked heavy favorite Wootton, whom the Bulldogs lost to 14-10 in their regular season matchup, in their opening round playoff game May 8 with a 9-7 come-from-behind victory on the road.

Though Shemer pitched well for much of the game, errors caused the Bulldogs to allow seven straight runs, putting them down 7-2 going into the fifth inning with Goodman taking the mound to pitch.

“I was pleased with my performance on the mound,” Shemer said. “My velocity was back to normal, if not better.”

The Bulldogs needed some quick runs to get them back into a game where their chances were starting to look bleak.

CHS opened up the fifth setting up Goodman for a two-run single to close the gap to 7-4 and give him his third and fourth RBI of the game. Junior Eric Skrzyniarz was the next one to bat, grounding into a fielder’s choice and beating out a double play ball to bring up senior captain Daniel Wawrzusin, who stepped up to the plate with the chance to keep their hopes alive, and delivered with a two-run homerun to drive in Skrzyniarz.

“After that homerun I knew we were right back in a position to jump ahead,” Wawrzusin said. “It was the most meaningful homerun of my life.”

All the momentum had now switched to the Bulldogs as Goodman got through the sixth inning unscathed, getting some help from a phenomenal throw by Skrzyniarz to gun down a Wootton base runner at the plate for the final out, saving a run and giving CHS some real hope going into what was possibly the final out of their rocky season.

“The thought ran through my mind that this is not the last game I wanted to pitch in,” Goodman said. “All season my curveball was not on and I finally found it, luckily at the right time.”

The team showed its ability to play in the clutch as Goodman got on with a softly hit single and after Skrzyniarz was hit by a pitch, Wawrzusin singled to load the bases and give another senior a chance to make the big play. Senior Will Johnson came up in a huge pressure situation and cleared the bases with a deep line drive double to right field that, if hit anywhere else in the ballpark, would likely have been a grand slam. Nonetheless, the Bulldogs took a 9-7 lead into the bottom of the seventh.
In perhaps the most important inning of his three-year varsity career, Goodman stood up against the pressure and got a quick one-two-three inning, stunning the large Wootton fan base and keeping CHS alive for at least one more game.

“To me, nothing could beat beating our archrivals in a playoff game,” Goodman said. “Coming back from a 7-2 deficit it just does not get any better. This is why I love the game of baseball.”

In terms of next season, CHS will not only return six starters from the final playoff game, but will also get back junior captain Harris Fanaroff, who missed the entire season with a torn ACL, and sophomore Ben Kramer, who missed the end of the season with shoulder issues. Both players should help bolster an inconsistent pitching rotation.

“Those two losses were huge detriments to the team this year,” Shemer said. “Harris will be healthy next year and will hopefully be one of the top pitchers in the county, and Ben being back will help the bullpen tremendously.”