The varsity baseball Eagles felt the heartbreak of a season-ending defeat on May 17 in the quarterfinals of the North Coast Section Division 5 playoffs, falling to No. 1 seeded Berean Christian, 3-1.
The loss gave Cloverdale a final season record of 11-12.
Although the reality of a season-ending loss can be a tough pill to swallow, the Eagle’s had nothing to be ashamed of as they walked off the field for the final time.
“I’m happy with the way the team finished the season, we were playing strong baseball and competing the way we could hope for,” CHS coach Ben West reflected. “It was great to see the boys playing a high level of baseball at the end of the season. While it’s not the way we wanted it to end, we could leave on a high note knowing that we finished the season very strong.”
The Eagles were the ninth seed in the 16-team NCS tournament, advancing with a 7-2 win at No. 8 Ferndale in the opener on May 14.
Cloverdale senior starter Keller Sibert (7 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 3 Ks) turned in a great outing, while the Eagles erased an early 2-1 deficit with three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the seventh to coast to a 7-2 victory.
“Sibert’s last start in an Eagles uniform was one to remember — he competed very strongly — and from the third inning on was lights out,” West noted. “The Ferndale game was played the way Cloverdale baseball needs to in order to be successful — great pitching and defense — while being productive at the plate with timely hits.”
Pacing the Cloverdale offense were Collin Patterson (3 for 4, 2B, 3 RBIs), Drew Edens (2 for 3, 2 runs), Tucker Morgan (2 for 3, run) and Josh Lemley (1 for 3, 2B, run, RBI).
The Eagles had the tough task of a visit to No. 1 seeded Berean Christian on Friday, with pitcher Dylan Scaramella (6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ERs, 4 Ks) climbing the hill in a great outing. The game was knotted at 1-1 before the hosts scratched for a pair of runs in the fourth en route to a 3-1 win.
“We played very well against this team, had an opportunity to tie or take the lead multiple times and just could not get the timely hit to capitalize,” West said. “We had the heart of our line-up at the plate with runners and scoring position and the result was hard hit ground balls for double plays.”
Leading the Cloverdale bat attack were Edens (1 for 1, run), Morgan (1 for 3) and Sibert (1 for 3).
