End of an era for Davis baseball

PHOTO: Senior Adam Dapkewicz steps into the box during an at bat in the playoff game against McClatchy High.

By Paige Ochoa,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor–

Heavy hearts followed members of the Davis High baseball team on May 14 as the team lost the first round of playoffs to McClatchy High at a score of 3-4.

Although stands were packed and the home dugout was energized from the first pitch, the Blue Devils could not pull off a victory on their home turf due to unlucky calls from a home-plate umpire and a few timely hits from the Lions.

The first inning started off with senior catcher Adam Dapkewicz back-picking the runner at second, while senior Jonah Henrickson was beamed in the head during the bottom of the inning.

However, no runs crossed the plate until the following inning when McClatchy batter Emilio Huizar hit a blooper falling between shortstop, second and centerfield.

The score held tight at 0-1 for the next two innings as the home-plate umpire called more strikes on DHS batters.

“The strike zone was a little bit shaky and [the umpire] wasn’t giving us the pitches we wanted,” senior Nate Ade said. “So it was up to the hitters to adapt to his low zone, which was definitely difficult.”

It was not until the bottom of the fourth inning that the Blue Devils finally found themselves on the scoreboard, taking the lead 2-1.

Senior Jonah Henrickson started off the fourth inning with a walk, which was followed by a base hit through the 5-6 hole from junior Josh Catacutan. Dapkewicz moved the runners over to second and third with a perfectly placed bunt. Then, Ade cashed in on the RBI opportunity by striping a line drive over the third baseman’s head, scoring both Henrickson and Catacutan.

“With only one out I knew I had to hit a ball in the air to the outfield to at least get us one run, but it ended up working out that it landed and we got two,” Ade said.

The fifth inning continued the scoring trend for both teams. Carrell was pulled when he gave up the tying run from a two-out McClatchy rally. Senior Adrian Sanchez came in as relief, walking the next batter who scored the runner on third, making the score 3-2 in favor of McClatchy.

Although behind again, the DHS team managed to reach a tie in the bottom of the fifth with a single from senior Nick Vogt followed by a Henrickson double, scoring the speedy centerfielder.

Neither team was able to score the next two innings so the game continued into extras with a nail-biting score of 3-3.

After seemingly escaping defeat by nailing the go-ahead run at home on an unsuccessful squeeze play by McClatchy, the Blue Devils could not contain the next batter. McClatchy’s Huizar hit a deep double over Vogt’s head, scoring the winning run.

Although the Blue Devils put up a good fight in the bottom of the eighth with a much needed base runner off a two-out line drive from Ade, they did not come out victorious in the end.

Along with 11 graduating seniors, longtime head coach Dan Ariola hung up his helmet for the last time. He will be retiring as the season comes to a close.