The Los Gatos High School baseball team is playing in June, which means only one thing: it has secured a berth in the CIF Northern California Championships. The No. 3 seed Wildcats (25-4) host No. 6 seed Rio Americano of Sacramento (27-6) on June 2 at 4pm.
The Wildcats have experienced every gamut of the emotional spectrum in the postseason. First, they stunned Bellarmine in a comeback for the ages, rallying from a 7-1 deficit entering the bottom of the seventh inning to post a 10-9 victory in eight innings in a Central Coast Section Division I quarterfinal on May 23.
Five days later, however, they fell short in their quest to win the section’s premier division, losing to Valley Christian 3-0 in the semifinals.
“It definitely hurt a lot,” said Brady Simon, the Wildcats’ outstanding senior center fielder. “We knew we could’ve won that game, and, going into it, we had a really good shot to win the whole thing. It was definitely a bummer. But knowing we have a couple more practices as a team and more time together means a lot. So we’re all excited to compete in NorCals. We’ve been there before, having a lot of guys on the team who played that game against Franklin (in last year’s NorCal win) and Serra the game after helps a lot. We’re prepared for it and I think we have a really good shot to win the whole thing.”
For the 12 seniors on the team, it could be a particularly challenging week. If Los Gatos beats Rio Americano, it would play in the semifinals on June 4, have graduation ceremonies on June 5, Grad Night that same night until 5:30am on the 6th, and the championship game—should they get that far—10 ½ hours later.
Will the team be distracted, having Senior Grad activities all week? Not a chance, Simon said.
“It’s going to be a fun week, but definitely a challenging week having all that stuff wrapped in together,” he said. “It’s a lot of stuff, big stuff we’re trying to mix in with a competitive week of practice and games. But our focus hasn’t shifted at all. Graduation is an awesome experience, but we have business to handle and that’s what our eyes are set on.”
Everyone associated with the LGHS baseball program won’t soon forget the win over Bellarmine. Not only did it secure a spot in NorCals, it came in the most thrilling fashion. To wit: the Wildcats were down to their final three outs, trailing by six runs entering the bottom of the seventh inning.
However, junior standout Chase Frolich—who leads the team with a school single-season record 48 RBIs—hit a one-out grand slam to send the game into extra innings. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the outburst of cheers when Frolich touched home plate was heard blocks away.
“It was probably one of the crazier feelings I’ve ever had in my life,” Simon said. “Chase wasn’t having one of his best games before that, but he was one of the guys who could change the game in one swing. I’m super proud of him for doing what he’s done. He’s breaking records and has been great for us all year. Chase is the man.”
As exhilarating as it was for the Wildcats to extend the game into extra innings, the positive vibes were short-lived as Bellarmine quickly scored two runs in the top of the eighth. Los Gatos was undeterred, with Simon hitting a walk-off, three-run home run in the bottom half to seal an instant classic.
With runners at first and third base and one out, Simon was looking fastball away—and that’s exactly what he got. As soon as Simon made contact, he knew it was gone.
“Once I hit it, just a ton of emotions,” he said. “It was insane, knowing the game was over and we could keep playing. Celebrating that with the rest of the team who has been supporting me all year means everything. It’s one of my favorite teams to play for in my entire career. I have so much love for them and couldn’t ask to do this with a better group of dudes. The mix of emotions of up one moment, down the next and back up was insane. Both teams showed grit just being able to go back and forth like that.”
Despite being down by six runs in the seventh and two runs in the eighth, the Wildcats had the belief they could rally. After all, they had already done it once earlier in the season, rallying from six runs down to win a game in the Scott Boras Classic.
“Everyone had confidence in each other,” Simon said. “We’be been through it multiple times before, so that gave us so much confidence in each other. The energy in the dugout was amazing, we’re grinding at-bats, keeping our heads down and taking it pitch by pitch. We knew it could happen, and it did. The vibe in the dugout is, hey, we’ve done this before, let’s do it again. I’m super proud of the team in how we’ve handled adversity and played some of our best in tough situations.”
Simon has had a season to remember, ranking first on the team in batting average (.453), on-base percentage (.580), slugging (.837), home runs (six), doubles (five), runs scored (44) and hits (39). The 6-foot, 180-pounder also has played exceptionally well in center field.
Track and Field
In the ultra-competitive CIF State Championships—where athletes aren’t separated by divisions in California—a couple of LGHS athletes fared well among elite competition May 29-30. The girls 4×400 squad of Kaylee Cross, Madison Kohli, Ella Crites and Elise Greenstreet finished fourth in 3 minutes, 47.57 seconds.
In the Prelims the previous day, the quartet unleashed a huge personal-best of 3:44.99. In the open 400, Cross took sixth in 54.97 and Kohli ninth in 55.82. On the boys side, the 4×400 relay team of Hayden Benjamin, Han Tang, Aydin Hussain and Kai Jordan finished sixth in a time of 3:16.88 seconds. In the Prelims, the quartet nailed a PR of 3:16.18.
