Baseball falls to Old Mill 4-3 in state semi-finals

Catcher Jack Ryan swings and crushes a home run in the baseball teams 4–3 loss to the Old Mill Patriots in the state semi-finals. Photo courtesy of Joey Sussman.

By Gabe Schaner

The baseball team (16–3) lost to the Old Mill Patriots (16–8) 4–3 on a walkoff error by shortstop Matt Ryan.

In the first inning, the Vikings got on the scoreboard first. Center fielder Justin Carboni and short stop Matt Ryan both had RBI singles to put the Vikes up 2–0. After the second inning, the Patriots managed to score one run when Old Mill center fielder Ian Adams scored on a wild pitch.

In the third inning, catcher Jack Ryan blasted a home run to extend the Vikes lead to 3–1. However, Old Mill responded in the fourth with two RBI singles which tied the game up at three all. It looked as though Old Mill would score again in the inning, but center fielder Justin Carboni caught a line drive and heaved the ball to catcher Jack Ryan for a double play to end the inning, igniting the Vikes crowd. 

The Vikes couldn’t score any runs for the rest of the game, so the team relied on the defense to hold Old Mill to zero more runs. Old Mill’s chance came in the bottom of the seventh inning, with two outs and a man on third. A ground ball was hit to shortstop Matt Ryan who bobbled the ball but still had time to record the out. However, the ball bounced in the dirt and skidded past first basemen Weston Weilminster to send Old Mill to the state championship. Despite the end of the season for the Vikes, they were the first team in Whitman baseball history to win a region championship and advance to the state semi-finals.