Losing is never easy. The season ender for Skyline’s baseball team in this year’s 2010 playoffs was no different. Their last game, played on May 8, was the best of the three games in the series, which was also a part of a doubleheader.
 
According to the head coach of the baseball team, Dino Nomicos, the team was emotionally spent by the last game of the series. It was their third game within a span of two days.

“I knew we were done going into the third game,” Nomicos said. “We were emotionally spent. And our team wasn’t, because we were so young—the kind of team that could get fired-up to play three games in 48 hours.”

The loss was taken hard by many on the team, as they were still feeling the after effects of the early playoff exit. Devin Kelly, Skyline’s starting catcher, felt that the team was better than their opponents from Chabot College despite being the underdogs in the series.  

“We should’ve won the series in two games,” said Kelly, who hit 4 for 12 during the series. “We came out Friday ready to play, and we beat them pretty good. We came out Saturday and we had them beat in the ninth inning. All the umpire had to do was call a strike.”

Nomicos also mentioned the feeling of being “squeezed” by the umpires during the second game of the series in which Skyline lost by a score of 4-5 after leading 4-2 going into the ninth inning. Chabot came back to score three runs after Skyline came within one out of closing out the series at Hayward.      

“It was disappointing for a night that we lost,” Nomicos said. “When you reflect on the year, we did alright considering we didn’t have enough pitching.”

Despite a shorthanded and banged-up pitching staff, Kelly credited them for their performance during the playoffs when it mattered most.

“Everyone stepped up,” Kelly said. “Even freshman pitchers that didn’t throw that much during the year stepped up during the playoffs when it counted.”

While the loss was a bitter one, Skyline plans to retain a good portion of their roster for the following season. Nomicos figures that the team will be much more experienced and a lot tougher next season with the current one under their belts.

“I think it was a great reward for everyone,” Nomicos said. “I think it left a sour taste on the freshmen, and they’ve got something to prove next year.”

Nomicos also expressed how proud he was that the team made the playoffs this year.

“They’ll come in ready to go,” Nomicos said. “They know what’s expected. They’re going to come in and get us back to the playoffs.”