Prep baseball | Ferndale goes down fighting in NCS, loses three 'coaches on the field' to graduation
Victimized by a five-run fifth inning by the home team, the No. 4 seed Ferndale Wildcats' baseball team's season ended at No. 13 seed St. Patrick's-St. Vincent on Tuesday night in a 7-3 ballgame in the North Coast Section playoffs. The Wildcats rallied for three runs in the seventh and final inning, but just came up short, showing fighting spirit even after a bases-loaded double play in their hitting half of the final frame, plating their only three runs.
Ferndale ends the season at 16-6, 8-4 Little Four Conference, with four losses to conference foe and Division 4 No. 1 seed St. Bernard's being the only blemishes on their regular season schedule. The Wildcats lost their opener in the Charlie Lakin Tournament to Del Norte before falling to the Bruins on Tuesday.
Ferndale didn't commit an error on the night, but the Bruins pounded out 13 hits to the Wildcats' six.
"We didn't really make any mistakes; it was just timely hitting on their part," said Wildcat head coach Justin Andersen. The Bruin pitcher cleared the bases with a triple and then scored as well. "We did not make adjustments at the plate, and it just took us a while to start squaring balls up. That's what it came down to, which isn't enough."
Ferndale did load the bases trying to come back from a seven-run deficit in the seventh, but were undone by a double-play ball. Nonetheless, they scored three runs with two outs. "It would've been an interesting game if we don't hit into a double play there," said Andersen.
Defensively, Cash Mobley earned credit for his work in center field, throwing out a runner at the plate and running down several balls hit.
"I think Prescott (Langer) hit the two hardest balls, but they were right at people," said the coach.
Individual statistics weren't immediately available for the Wildcats, but the coach speculated that there were no multi-hit games among the Cats.
Reflecting on the season, Andersen said, "It's obviously not how we wanted the year to end. Unfortunately, all but one team in each division has to end the season with a loss. We just would've liked to go a little deeper than we did. The senior class, their contributions not only on the baseball field but in the school community in general were huge. Some of the things they were able to accomplish athletically were pretty special (including three consecutive section title births, two section wins, and one state title in football, and an elusive conference title in baseball).
"I don't know that you really look to replace them," said Andersen. "You look to fill holes, but those are tough shoes. They're three of the best competitors I've been around in quite a while (Tanner Pidgeon, Prescott Langer, and Tristen Titus). I can't say it's just baseball, they're appreciated there, but their impact was felt throughout the school community for sure."
"We've got a good group of younger players," said the coach when asked about reasons for optimism for next season. "They seem to be committed to the game and wanting to get better, and it's always exciting to see how far they can take it." The Wildcats return five juniors and four sophomores, one a first-year player and three with returning experience from last year. "They're super-athletic," said Andersen. "And it'll be interesting to see what they can accomplish as upperclassmen."
"They're all going to have to have a breakout year (next year)," said the coach. "We lose a lot of leadership, and there's going to need to be a good portion of maturing from all the juniors and sophomores. I lose three coaches on the field basically."
Ken McCanless can be reached at 707-441-0526.
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