Baseball in Valencia sees its season end in heartbreaking fashion

Valencia Vikings baseball could almost taste victory.

With a 3-2 lead at home over the Moorpark Musketeers (17-10-1), the Vikings (15-13-1) had their hearts broken after a two-out, two-run double in the first half of the game. seventh inning. gave Moorpark a 4-3 lead and eventual victory in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 2.

Valencia head coach Brad Meza said he could only tell his players he was proud of them for getting as close to the quarter-finals as they did.

“The game is a grind,” Meza said. “They go to school, they come here, they have to deal with me. You have to let them know that you are proud of them. For some of these guys, baseball is over. For some of them, they keep going. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to produce quality people, hard-working people, and I think we’ve done that. That is something they should be proud of.”

Moorpark advances to the quarterfinals and will face the Crean Lutheran Saints on Friday.

The Vikings were one strike away from advancing before Moorpark’s Jacob Shannon-Wilkerson reached on an infield single to put two runners on base with two outs. Moorpark’s Greg Lareva then drove in both runners with a double that narrowly missed Valencia midfielder Will Verlaque on a diving attempt.

“It’s a game of inches,” Meza said. “We have the best midfielder in the league. We had all the confidence in the world that he would follow that ball, but it wasn’t in our favor today.

Moorpark started the game on the front foot, tagging Valencia starting pitcher Noah Jaquez for two runs in the top of the first inning. The senior had to throw 39 pitches in the frame, giving up two hits and three walks.

Jaquez was nearly perfect over the next five innings, finishing with just the two hits allowed and seven strikeouts. He did allow five walks, but was able to work around that with relative ease.

“He came in after the first one and we told him, ‘Hey, if you want to go for the long haul, you’re going to have to compete a little bit better,’” Meza said. “And he did. That’s all we can ask for.”

Valencia got back into the game in the second inning after a walk, two hit batters and an error allowed two runs to be crossed.

The score remained stuck at 2-2 until the bottom of the fifth, when the Vikings took their first and only lead of the game. Lincoln Hunt reached on a fielder’s choice, followed by a walk and a single by Matthew Moffit, both with two outs, to bring Hunt home.

The Musketeers and Vikings had played two games against each other in the regular season. Both teams won once and both finished in one-run games.

“That’s how baseball works, man,” Meza said. “It’s the way the baseball gods put it out, and unfortunately things didn’t go our way that time.”

Moopark starting pitcher Derek Nickels struckout two and allowed two hits over 4 2/3 innings. Tanner Stotts was able to eliminate the Vikings in the seventh, but not before Gian Martinez almost tied things up with a blast to left field that was caught just short of the wall.

Meza and the rest of the coaches could be seen giving words of encouragement to the seniors after the game. Meza said the most important message he had for them was to just be themselves in their lives.

“Take the lessons you learned here on the field and apply them to your daily life. Be the best, whatever it is: student, baseball player,” Meza said. “Whatever it is, just stay the best version of yourself.”