The boys baseball team (11–6) fell to the Walter Johnson Wildcats (9–8) by a score of 11–6 on Monday night.

The Vikes were the No. 1 seed in their section heading into the playoffs for the second straight year and were favored against the fourth seeded Wildcats after beating them 3–2 in the regular season.

Despite their high seed, the Vikes were unable to replicate their regular season performance in this playoff matchup. The Wildcats quickly jumped out to a 7–0 lead that they never relinquished despite the Vikes’ best efforts.

Coach Joe Cassidy was disappointed with the way the team started, but credited their valiant effort of cutting the ten run deficit to five.

“We picked a bad day to have our worst game,” Cassidy said. “Everything we thought had lined up, we had the two seniors out there, it just spiraled out of control.”

The squad never gave up and was able to stave off a mercy rule in the fifth inning as senior first baseman Noah Clement drove in senior center fielder Eric Wayman. Clement finished with three RBIs, while Wayman got on base all four of his at bats and scored twice.

The team’s 11–6 record smashed their expectations, considering they lost of their best three pitchers from the 2016 season. Clement and Wayman both played outstanding on both sides of the ball to lead the Vikes to their success.

Although there will be holes to fill come next spring, next year’s team will have several returning varsity players to fill the void.

“We lose 12 seniors and we have a junior moving away, so it is really like losing 13 guys and six starters,” Cassidy said. “Luckily, we get back the 4, 5, 6 guys as they are all sophomores. We could be back here [next year] but I don’t know. We need to figure out a way to get over this hump.”