Instead of playing Mt. Tam at home on Friday as originally scheduled, the Dons traveled to Mill Valley on Saturday where the Frosh team split a double header last year. Although the team fell 5-1, what was even more disappointing was that there was no DJ, unlike last year when we heard classics such as the 80’s TV show theme song from Three’s Company.
David Gonzales got the start on the mound. He went 4 strong innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits, 1 BB, and 1 HBP. He was followed by Hank Bauer, who went 2 innings giving up 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 BBs. The outfield defense of David, Ben Pecci, Cole Gwaltney, and Henry Garbo continued to excel, including a great catch by Cole on a ball hit to deep left center field in the bottom of the 1st inning, and a stellar play from Henry to cutoff Austin Wampler to Wyatt Cooper to throw out a Mt. Tam runner at 3rd base in the 4th inning. The infield defense struggled with 4 errors plus a dropped pop fly in foul territory. A couple bright spots were Catcher Dominic Patitucci throwing out a runner at 2nd base in the 2nd inning, and an inning ending double play from 2nd baseman Austin Wampler in the 5th inning.
On offense, the Dons’ final stat line of 1 run on 4 hits was misleading as the team made solid contact the entire game. Unfortunately, more often than not, the balls were hit right to the sure-handed Mt. Tam defense. Cole, David Roux, Austin, and Dominic collected the hits on the day. Cole also had a shot to left field that landed just foul after hitting yet another Chinese spy balloon. The Dons managed to avoid being shut out in the last inning by collecting a couple hits and taking advantage of the only error from the Mt. Tam defense.
I want to acknowledge the coaches and fans who showed up for a weekend game far from home on very short notice. This could be interpreted as a sad commentary on our social lives, but I would prefer to think of it as a dedicated group of parents that will do anything for our kids, even if it means postponing binge watching the recently released 3rd season of Outer Banks on Netflix.
Lastly, keeping with my mantra of giving the readers what they want, I am reintroducing last year’s “Get to know the Coaches” segment where I reveal fun facts about the coaches over the course of the season. Both Jim and Dan are from SoCal, growing up in San Diego and Malibu respectively.
The Dons play their next game on Thursday March 2 at 3:30pm at Amador Valley