Down 4-0 going into the fifth inning, Encinal’s grit rang true with two runs in the top to lead by senior Oskar Jones and junior Kyle Cook.

This wasn’t the momentum shift they had hoped for however, as the Jets failed to recoup the deficit. Encinal Varsity baseball with a devastating loss against Castro Valley Trojans in the West Alameda County Conference championship game on May 15, 6-2.

After climbing a division, the Jets knew they had a difficult season ahead of them. Despite this they remained confident and pushed and found themselves in the WACC Shoreline League Championship against Castro Valley. They ultimately fell in the final.

“I feel sad. You know, my team worked really hard to get where we were,” said Senior Oskar Jones. “But I’m also proud of us because we’re in a new league and we went really far in that league, especially with a lot of people, coaches and players talking down about us.”

The game started slow, with no runs until the fourth quarter where the Castro Valley Trojans broke that game open with four runs in the bottom of the fourth quarter.

“I think the key turning points were definitely just them stringing together a few hits,” said Jones. “They had one inning, and they put up four runs, and that kind of like slipped it away.”

The Jets answered back with two quick runs in the top of the fifth, cutting the lead down to two. 

The Trojans response was just as quick however, and went on to score another two over the same inning. This would be the last run on the evening, as the game would fizzle out ending 6-2 Trojans, putting the Jet’s run to an end.

While this isn’t the end score the Jets had hoped for, the season has remained a success.