Dexter Zinman is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Central High School for AZPreps365

PHOENIX - On the first pitch Central sophomore Damian Quintero saw, he ripped a triple into deep right field.

The floodgates had opened.

The Central High School Bobcats (6-9) celebrated senior night against the Carl Hayden Falcons (5-10) Friday night, and they did so in style. After Quintero’s lead-off triple, Central posted back-to-back six-run innings, taking off to a 12-1 lead after two frames.

“I’m a huge believer in ‘first inning makes or breaks the game,’” Central coach Randy Aguiar said. “If we come out on fire, then we put pressure on the other team. We have control of the game.”

The Bobcats practically did everything right for the first two innings. They were getting hits, taking walks, and a few of them were even bravely being hit by pitches. To borrow and paraphrase a line from Moneyball, “They get on base.”

Quintero continued to impact the game, as he was also the Bobcats' starting pitcher. The underclassman struck out three batters in the top of the second inning.

“It’s very important,” Central junior Michael Harvey said of Quintero’s leadoff triple. “Seeing that first hit really gains confidence for the entire team.”

Harvey would hit a triple of his own in the second inning. It was Central’s third triple of the game, following Quintero’s and a second-inning drive down the third base line by senior Aaron Clegg. 

“Seeing that, we can all believe in ourselves and go out and get that hit too,” Harvey added.

The aftermath of Harvey’s triple was a perfect snapshot moment of the overall energy of the game. Central’s field has a strange feature where two of the massive light poles that illuminate night games are in center field, inside the home run fence.

They are in play, and Harvey’s hit clanged right off the post in left-center.

Off the bat, Harvey’s hit was solid and traveling well. It’s impossible to tell if it would have been a home run if not for the light pole, but Aguiar came out to ask the umpire anyway. For a moment, with Harvey standing on third, the game froze.       

No one really knew what to do. And the players loved it.

Shouts of “It’s gone!” erupted from the stands and dugout, and laughter could be heard around the park during the on-field discussion. 

“We were basically trying to see if it was going to be a home run based on the trajectory of the ball,” Aguiar said. “There’s no clear sign on the light pole for them to make that judgment. [The umpire] said that he would recommend just putting some sort of line on the light pole, that way it’s not a judgment call.”

The two light poles in Central's center field. Michael Harvey's triple hit off the left pole (Photo by Dexter Zinman / AZPreps365).Harvey‘s triple was one in a series of not-so-serious baseball moments that had the benefit of occurring on senior night. Four otherwise mundane foul balls, which sailed into the waters of the neighboring Steele Indian School Dog Park, were just as celebrated as a truly great throw from behind the dish to catch a Falcon base runner stealing second. 

Even the umpires weren’t immune from the energy. Upon the return of one of said foul balls, dutifully retrieved each time by an enthusiastic young Central fan, the home plate umpire tossed it back to Aguiar.

“Put this somewhere and let it dry off a bit,” he said with a smirk.

“I loved the vibe, these guys I think fed off the senior night festivities,” Aguiar said.

Semi-unfortunately for Central, Carl Hayden may have fed off of them as well. After putting up two runs in the third, the Falcons found a groove and scored five in the fourth.

“It’s a long game,”  Carl Hayden coach Jacob Greenberg said. “You just try to shake it off and play good baseball.”

Greenberg wasn’t satisfied with his team's start. The final two of Central’s six first-inning runs came from two consecutive bad plays at the plate. A pitch made its way past the catcher, allowing one runner to score, followed by an errant throw to the pitcher covering the plate, allowing for another runner to score.

“I don’t think we played as good defense as we usually do,” Greenberg said.

The woes continued in the third inning, as what would have been the third out turned into a baserunner for Central. Strike three was dropped, and a lackadaisical throw to first was beaten out by the hustling Bobcat.

“I like that we scored eight later in the game,” Greenberg would add. “Showed a little fight.”

“That’s a solid club over there, we respect those guys a lot,” Aguiar said of his opponents. “We almost let them back in the game, but we luckily put out the fire.”

“We can come back and play better Monday,” Greenberg concluded.

Central visits Carl Hayden Monday to conclude the Bobcats’ season.