The Bainbridge High School varsity baseball team earned their 10th win of the season Wednesday, April 10 in a decisive 15-5 win at home against Nathan Hale.
On the board first, and early, the Spartans were ahead throughout the game, seemingly cruising back from a mid-season hitch, a loss to Lakeside Monday (when star pitcher Liam Hatakenaka suffered a minor arm injury early), their first since an aberrant two-game slump late last month which was, at the time, their only losses on an otherwise flawless record.
The double-digit win against the Raiders nudged the island squad’s record to 10-3 overall, and left them ranked sixth in the Metro League standings.
It was, BHS Head Coach Geoff Brown said, a return to form for the Spartans.
“It was a good day for us,” he said. “Obviously, we’ve lost a couple of tough ones. Some of these games that we’ve lost, some of it was putting a little pressure on ourselves, and it’s just little things that we had to clean up.”
Following the disappointing Lakeside loss, Brown said the Spartans settled into practice looking to recapture some of that early season mojo by getting back to basics, a tactic that led to success on the scoreboard Wednesday.
“We kept it nice and simple, and that was the same thing today,” the coach said.
“Keeping it simple; simple approach at the plate, pounding the strike zone, making defensive plays — that’s what we do when we play loose and have fun and keep it simple. We put up runs on the board, pound the strike zone and we do what we’re supposed to do.”
Brown said the team was eyeing — and expecting to nab — one of the top two Metro spots going into the postseason to guarantee a bye in the first round of the playoffs.
The team was, he said, where he expected skill-wise at this point in the season.
“After today? Yes,” Brown said Wednesday. Hatakenaka is expected back on the mound soon and the rest of the Spartans are as strong as ever.
“Overall we’re looking good,” Brown said. “Skill-wise we’re coming around. I think we’re about to make a big push.”
