The stands at St. Peter’s Field were packed on Friday June 8—a rare sight for the CRLS baseball program. Students and parents sat side by side near the Cambridge dugout, providing unwavering support for the athletes in their first round Division 1 North playoff game against Newton North.

The game didn’t go as planned for the Falcons, however, as they fell to the Tigers in extra innings with a final score of 4-1.

The pitchers for both teams were strong. The three pitchers for the Falcons were sophomore Brendan Murphy, junior Jordan Rosado, and senior Jovan Harding. According to Coach Brendan Kells, “the two pitchers [Newton North] threw against us were the two best pitchers we saw all season.”

The game was scoreless until the top of the 6th inning, when Newton North got one across to take a 1-0 lead. The Falcons quickly responded, however, when sophomore Thomas McGaffigan hit a single to send senior Yusef Chisholm to home plate.

“After the RBI [run batted in], the place was booming. It was awesome,” McGaffigan said of the energy at the field. “The crowd was amazing.”

Gallery • 4 Photos

Vera Targoff

Pictured: The CRLS baseball team during their game on June 8th.

The game continued on past the regulatory seven innings, with the crowd getting louder as the game progressed. One fan was even removed from the game for their aggressive chants, provoking the students in the stands even further. After every play, the crowd responded loudly, intensifying the game even more.

The Tigers scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning, and the Falcons were unable to score to tie it up once they were at bat. The game ended with a final score of 4-1.

“To me, as a coach, it was a testament to how far we’ve come as a team to play them, head to head, like we did,” Coach Kells said of the close game. “With baseball, the results aren’t always fair. There are certain elements of things that are just kind of outside of your control; whether the ball falls in, maybe a key call that happens here or there, but most of the time there’s a certain element of luck whether the hits find the right holes, and we played them neck and neck.” He continued, “To go into extra innings with an opponent like that means that we were on their level.”

The team had eleven seniors this year, a high number for the baseball program. “Their leadership was amazing,” McGaffigan said of the seniors. “I’m going to miss them a lot.”

Coach Kells also commented on the impact that the class of 2018 had on the rest of the team. “There were a lot of words of wisdom that were shared from this huge senior class that we had on this team after that game,” he stated.

He concluded, “I just hope that a lot of the younger guys can learn from them.”