Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

On Monday, April 4th, the Chandler Prep Titans invited the Sequoia Pathway Pumas to Snedigar Sports Complex for a 6:00 game. The game lasted four-and-a-half innings due to AIA’s current mercy rule for Varsity baseball. Despite the shortened length and Titan Head Coach Vilaboy doing his best to give the Pumas ample opportunities to make plays and get outs, the game lasted over three hours with a final score of 34-5.

The Titans pitched four players on Friday, collectively earning 11 strikeouts, with sophomore David Allen earning five in the first two innings. Offensively, senior Crew Cascaes led the team, notably only walking once. On his five at bats, Cascaes hit five singles, all line drives to left field. As with the pitching, Chandler Prep’s batting line-up saw lots of subs and new faces, including senior Noah Rasmussen. Rasmussen only started playing baseball this year and this was the perfect game for him to take some swings and play third base at the Varsity level.

The Titans have endured a tough start to their season with several difficult games and a few shutout losses. But on Friday, as runs kept coming in for the Titans, 11 just in the first inning and 15 in the third, Chandler Prep had to change their focus to something more than just winning. The Chandler Prep coaching staff tried to find ways to show mercy to Sequoia Pathway, but as discussed in an article here (Mercy rule and the bigger picture | AZPreps365), that can be difficult. Head Coach Vilaboy explains the mindset he tries to instill in the players as they wait for the inevitable, eventual win:

“You try to forget about who you’re playing against and try to be within yourself. One thing that is cool about baseball is that it doesn’t matter who hits the ground ball. It’s still a ground ball. You can still work on playing that ground ball well. You still have to do it right. It doesn’t matter how good they are or how bad they are. I know it’s hard to keep that concentration level up and that’s a thing you can work on too. Baseball is a lot of standing around, but you have to keep the focus level up.”

The Pumas were most successful offensively in inning two, with two hits and two runs, but ultimately the pitching got the best of them and Titan infielders like senior Jaden Nelson and Cascaes took care of the remaining outs.

The Chandler Prep Titans play their next home game against Arete Prep on April 11th at 5:30pm. Titan Up.