The junior varsity (JV) boys baseball team won their fourth game of the season against South San Francisco High School, which was also their second mercy rule, a team has to be winning by 10 runs by the fifth inning, win of the season.

This was the first home game for the JV baseball team since March 6, when they mercy-ruled San Mateo High School. The team scored a total of 14 runs on six hits, while South San Francisco scored four runs on five hits, recording nine errors. The game lasted only five innings, with Woodside scoring nine runs in the fourth inning, then five in the fifth. The starting pitcher for Woodside was sophomore Samuel Sigal, who pitched four innings, while striking out five batters and walking only two. Sigal was substituted for freshman Colby Fernandez in the fifth inning, striking out four batters while walking none. Freshman Dean Joya, one of the team’s third baseman, talks about their pitching performances that led to Woodside winning.

“Sam goes out there with those strikes, that’s what we need, not walking any players, making the defense work,” Joya said. “Colby, throwing hard, striking out players, that’s what he does best.”

Going into the bottom of the fourth, Woodside was down 3-0 after some throwing errors. But after Joya was walked with one out, the bases were loaded for sophomore Jason Taylor, who hit a grounder to the second baseman that was bobbled. Taylor ended up being safe at first, with sophomore Henry Schwab scoring to put Woodside on the board. After a strikeout, it looked like the rally would come to an end. But after sophomore Jax Enochs reached first on an error that would score sophomore Ben De La Cruz, the pitcher for South San Francisco threw four consecutive pitches that would be disastrous for South San Francisco. The first three resulted in a wild pitch in which the catcher couldn’t find the ball, resulting in the bases being emptied and giving Woodside the lead. The fourth pitch would end up hitting freshman Cole Joliet in the head. Luckily, he got up from the ground in no time and made his way to first base. The bases were later loaded in that same inning with the score at 7-3. Joya was walked to get in a run to make it 8-3. Taylor hit a single up the middle to center field that scored Schwab to give Woodside a total of nine runs in a single inning and only on five hits. 

“Just having Sam and Colby’s backs, playing defense, getting hits,” Joya said. “[We were] supporting Sam and Colby on the defensive side.”

Then in the fifth inning, after South San Francisco scored another run, Woodside went onto another rally. After Joya was walked, he was substituted on base for freshman Matthew Salazar, who scored a short few minutes later when Fernandez hit a double to left, edging the team closer to the win. After freshman Mateus Mokhtarani was hit by a pitch, Fernandez was able to score from second base after a wild pitch in which the catcher again couldn’t find the ball. Freshman Ben Tomatis was walked and later, Mokhtarani scored on another wild pitch. De La Cruz walked and Joya was hit by a pitch to load the bases yet again for Taylor. Taylor hits a single up the middle that scores Tomatis, ending the game early with a 14-4 win.

“You know, play hard, go out there, do our best and just get it done,” Joya says.

After the game, the South San Francisco JV baseball team is now 1-6 and is 0-4 in the league. Woodside’s record after this win is 4-4 and is 3-1 in the league. This is the second time this season the team was mercy-ruled, the first time against Menlo Atherton on March 13, when they lost 12-1 in five innings. Despite the team being 1-6, it seems they do have a little bit of power. The one game they did win was on March 8 against Galileo High School when they won 17-3.

Joya believed this big win that the team got can affect the team in a way that can get the team more big wins.

“It affects us in a good way,” Joya says. “In the beginning [of the game], we were a little shaky, down by three. But towards the end of the game, we started picking up the bats, getting hits and playing defense. This win helps our morale a lot.”