On Wednesday, April 12, Berkeley High School boys baseball had an away game against Castro Valley High School. Players had high hopes for this game, and were confident that they could take home the win after beating them last year. One of these players was senior William Chang, who has been on varsity since his sophomore year. “I’m excited for the post-game celebration in the outfield,” he said.
The game started off uneventfully, with both team’s pitchers allowing no runs in the first inning. However, the action picked up during the top of the second inning when junior Manny Selles hit a double and ended up at second base. This was followed by a wild pitch from Castro Valley, allowing Selles to get to third base. Selles managed to take it all the way home and score for Berkeley off of a sacrifice hit from junior Trey Johnson. Castro Valley failed to score during the second inning, and by the third, the game was at a standstill, with neither team able to make any runs.
At the top of the fourth inning, Berkeley was up to bat. Chang was first up and got to first base, followed by senior Leo Asfar also getting a hit and moving to first. With players on first and second, senior Nikhil Beasley had a strong hit into the outfield, enabling both players on base to get to home plate. Beasley then scored with an exhilarating double run off of a hit by junior Marlo Butner. Berkeley ended the inning with 3 more points, bringing the score up to 4-0.
Nikhil Beasley is the team’s starting catcher, and has been on varsity for two years. He said, “The highlight of this game was definitely the overall hitting, defense did really well too. A couple errors, but it’s alright.” He thinks this game shows Berkeley’s strength as a team, stating, “We had a lot of great energy and scored runs. We just went in and took care of business.” With this season being his last, Beasley expressed that he wants it “to end on a good note.” Beasley emphasized, “Seeing the seniors when I was younger, I saw how important it was to them, and I get it now because it’s my last season.”
In the fifth inning, Berkeley wasn’t able to make any runs. Castro Valley used bunting as a strategy and managed to get one run with no outs in their batting half of the fifth. With Castro Valley’s bases loaded with no outs, starting pitcher junior Julian Ito was replaced by senior Nikhil Newman, and Berkeley was able to recover and end the inning without Castro Valley scoring. In this sixth inning, Asfar was able to score again due to a misplay from the opponent’s midfield player. During the seventh inning, Berkeley pitcher and junior Antonio Nordman was put in play, making his first appearance of the season. Despite Castro Valley scoring once in the final inning, Berkeley’s win was already solidified and the game ended 5-2 with a win for Berkeley.
Senior and second baseman Elijah Cord thinks Berkeley’s team can make it deep into playoffs this year. Cord stated, “Our team is strong, and I think we have enough skill to go pretty far.” Baseball has another league game on April 21, at home against Arroyo High School.