Tuesday afternoon the Chargers traveled to San Jose’s Lynbrook High School for a non-league contest. With two big league games against Homestead looming on Wednesday and Friday, it is fair to wonder if the focus for Wilcox was already on the upcoming games.
The Chargers are currently tied with the Mustangs for third place in the De Anza League at 6-4. Playoff positioning is on the line this week.
“It was definitely hard to keep the focus since this week we got a lot on our minds as we try to make the playoffs,” acknowledged senior second baseman Jarrett Chapman. “We got two big games coming up and we have [first place] Palo Alto next weekend.”
Chapman was one of a number of Chargers batters who hit the ball sharply against Lynbrook but had little to show for it. Wilcox had a decent amount of loud contact, but drove balls right to Vikings outfielders.
“Paul Rosa got into one, [Alex] Tolbert got into one and I hit one in the first inning,” added Chapman. “We were just hitting it right at people, that bad luck killed us.”
“That’s baseball, we hit some balls right at guys,” echoed Chargers Head Coach David Currie. “You kind of make your own luck though, we didn’t have enough of those hard hit balls.”
Early on the Chargers looked like their usual selves. Wilcox got on the board early, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when third baseman Alex Adame drove in Rosa. Starting pitcher Nathan Santos threw the ball well through three innings, as did Robert Padilla who relieved him in the fourth.
“They definitely did a good job, they were hitting their spots,” chimed Chapman on Santos and Padilla. “Our pitchers took advantage of the big strike zone, did a much better job than our hitters at making adjustments.”
The game remained a one-run contest until the bottom of the sixth. After an RBI single made the score 3-1, a bunt got underneath one of the infielders’ gloves and the Vikings runner came all the way around to score from second to extend the lead to 4-1.
While it wasn’t the outcome Wilcox was looking for, the loss could be just what they needed as they make their final charge towards the playoffs.
