The weather was perfect last Thursday in Walnut Creek as the Varsity Baseball team concluded their up
and down season with a rousing victory. The boys in blue completed a two game sweep of the
Northgate Broncos to conclude the campaign with two wins and give their outstanding senior class a
warm send off.

Coach Connor Hornsby threaded the needle perfectly so all seniors got in the game and all found a way
to contribute in some capacity to secure the impressive W for the Dons. It was a true team effort.

Nico O’Rourke (Sr) started his first game of the season on the mound and went 3 innings, giving up no
runs, hits or walks, while compiling 5 strikeouts. Nico the starting right fielder surprised many by revealing he throws left handed! Tyson Bates (Sr) followed with 3 strong innings of his own to complete his solid season.

Tyson was relieved by Miller Smith (Sr), who yielded to Logan Mikilas (Sr). Logan finished the game on the hill for Acalanes and got the last two outs of the game to register his second save of the week and his third save of the season.

It was a 0-0 contest heading into the top of the 5 th when Tyler Worthington (Sr) got the dugout going.
Andrew Habas (Sr) led off with a walk. Aidan Beers (Sr) followed with a single to right field before James
Stadt (So) also walked to load the bases. After two outs, Everett Glass (Jr) came up and hit a sharp
grounder that the Northgate shortstop misplayed to score Beers and give the Dons a 1-0 lead.

Nico O’Rourke followed and proceeded to smoke a single to centerfield to plate Stadt and Keegan Goddard (So) and give the boys a 3-0 lead.

Bates shut down the Broncos in their half of the 5th , before the boys got the bats going again in the 6th
inning. With one out Andrew Habas singled to left field for one of his 3 hits for the day. Andrew then
stole second before James Stadt (2 hits for the day) singled to left to score Habas and give the Dons a
seemingly comfortable 4-0 lead heading into the home half of the 6th inning.

Northgate fought back though and put up 3 runs of their own in the bottom of the 6th , to narrow the
Acalanes lead to 4-3. Fortunately the boys weren’t done offensively. The Dons put up another 3 runs in
the top of the 7th with hits from Sammy Lee (Sr), Andrew Habas and Aidan Beers (2 hits for the day).
Varsity newcomer Ben Pecci (So) then reached on an error to keep the inning going. Pecci also had a
hit earlier in the game for a solid debut. The 3 run outburst pushed the lead to 7-3.

The team held on in the 7th inning for a dramatic 7-6 win. The game ended on a hot line drive to 3rd base that was snagged with a two foot leap in the air by Everett Glass to seal the win.

The Dons finished 11-13 and narrowly missed getting into the Divison 1 NCS Playoffs. Nonetheless, there were several noteworthy accomplishments to recognize for the season. The boys displayed integrity, class and grit throughout the year.

Some season statistics highlights…

Pitching (min 3 appearances)
* Mason Zirkel (Jr) led the staff with a 1.49 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in 11 appearances in 42 innings
* Henry Souza (Jr) led the the team with 44.1 innings pitched and 29 strikeouts in 12 appearances
* Logan Mikalis (Sr) led the squad with 3 saves and finished with a 2.14 ERA in 11 appearances
* Tyson Bates finished with a 2.90 ERA and hitters only batted .186 against him for the season
* “Rubberarm” Peter Thorn (Jr) led the pitchers with 16 appearances

Hitting (min 10 at bats)
* Andrew Habas (Sr) led the offense with a .352 batting average, 25 hits and 15 runs scored
* Sammy Lee (Sr) had a .333 batting average and Mason Michlitsch had a .328 average
* Nico O’Rourke (Sr) led the boys with 5 doubles and 11 RBI’s (Habas also had 11 RBI’s to tie Nico)
* Gavin Bender (Jr) led the team with 2 Home Runs
* Keegan Goddard (So) led the squad with 14 stolen bases

Defense (min 5 chances)
* Keegan Goddard (So), Andrew Habas (Sr) and Nikko Woodson(Sr) finished the season with no
errors and a 1000% fielding percentage.
* Catcher Sammy Lee (Sr) had only one error in over 120 chances. Simply outstanding.
* Shortstop James Stadt (So), the “Minister of Defense”, led the team with 8 double plays.

Much love to the seniors and thanks to all of the players, coaches, volunteers, parents and
fans for all of the efforts. The future looks bright! Go Dons!