Windsor ends championships season with 16-8-1 record
The Jaguars experienced the harsh reality that is postseason baseball on May 20, falling to Alameda in the North Coast Section quarterfinals, 14-4.
The season-ending loss did nothing to diminish an outstanding 2019 campaign, which included a first-ever North Bay League Redwood Division championship and a spot in the subsequent league and NCS playoff tournaments.
“I’m extremely proud of this group of young men, especially our seniors, they led this team the whole year,” Jag’s coach Dave Avila reflected. “I’m excited for next year with a good group returning and some players coming up from our 17-2 JV team that we’re excited about.”
The Jaguars entered the NCS Division 2 playoffs as the No.14 seed, opening the tournament with a stunning, 6-0 road victory over No. 3 Tamalpais on May 17. The win set up a quarterfinal clash at No. 11 seeded Alameda on May 20.
The Hornets were a familiar foe for Windsor, having recorded an 8-7 walk-off win over them in previous meeting last month. This game would be decidedly different, with no miraculous comeback in the cards this time around.
The game started well enough from a Windsor standpoint, pushing across four runs in the opening frame, but the rally proved to be the highlight of the day for the Jaguars.
Disaster struck leading 4-1 in the third, as Alameda combined a flurry of hits, Windsor fielding errors and hit batsmen to erupt for 10 runs. Twelve consecutive batters reached base in the rally, effectively ending all hope for a Jags’ victory.
“It was our toughest inning of the season,” Avila noted. “I was just hoping to get even a hard hit ball right at someone. I’ve been around this game a while and seen innings like this, but not with this team.”
The Hornets would not allow another run the rest of the way en route to a 14-4 win in five innings.
Pitcher Gary Hall (2.1 IP, 5 hits, 6 ERs, 3 Ks) took the loss, while Cameron Hayman (2.2 IP, 6 hits, 2 ERs, 2 Ks) and Matt Kemper (1 hit, 0 ERs) also saw mound duty for Windsor. Top hitters were Carson Ramocinski (2 for 3, 2B, run, RBI), Trent Matthews (1 for 2, 2B, run, 2 RBIs), Ian McGee (1 for 3, RBI), Hayman (1 for 2), Hall (1 for 2, run) and Cyrus Soltanizadeh (1 for 2).
