Though the junior high baseball team lost in the first round of the playoffs last year, they came out with a renewed determination March 12, becoming the first team in school history to win the Fresno Unified Baseball Championships.

In winning the title the Eagles became the 5th sports team
to play in the championship game this year following the championship volleyball team, runner-up football team, championship boys basketball team, and runner-up girls basketball team.

FC defeated Carver Academy, 21-11, at Edison High School.

“As the final out was recorded and we all stormed the field, embracing each other and high-fiving, all I could do was wipe a tear from my eye and look back on all the hard work this team had done,” head coach Rich Sorenson said. “We really wanted to accomplish our goal of winning the championship.”

Rewind the tape back to March 13, ’07, the day the team lost an emotional game, 5-4, to Computech Junior High, in the first round of the playoffs. According to Sorenson, there was not a dry eye on the team, after the game.

“The pain was visible, the heartache immeasurable,” Sorenson said. “What those kids learned on that day was to do everything in their power to never feel that pain again, and come back stronger the following year.”

With 9 returning players, the coaching staff held high expectations for this year’s team. They also knew that hard work and acceptance of challenges were necessary for the team to move forward. The Eagles opened with a 15-1 win over Fort Miller, in their first game of the season, and never looked back, finishing the regular season at 10-0 and earning a playoff berth.

After yelling their team battle cry, “remember the pain,” in their huddle, the Eagles started off the playoffs strong with a 15-2 romp of Bullard Talent, a team that had given them stiff competition in league play. The win set up a rematch of the basketball championship game with Carver Academy for the title.

“Based on Carver’s performance last year, we were a little surprised to hear that they had made it to the Championship game,” Sorenson said. “But we heard that they had some good pitchers on their team and we knew that it was going to be a battle.”

Even though the game went back and forth most of the way, the baseball team followed the example of the basketball team and dismantled Carver by 9 months.

The game started with the Eagles scoring 4 runs in the top of the first inning only to see Carver battle back with 2 in the bottom of the inning. Though FC seemed to have it under control after stringing together another 3 runs in the second inning for a 7-2 lead, things started getting a little dicey.

After Carver batted all the way through their lineup in a harsh 20 minute 1/2 inning, the Eagles fell behind 8-7. An inning later, FC found themselves down 11-7.

As the team came off the field ready to bat, they gathered together in a huddle in front of their dugout. Looking each other in the eyes, the players knew that time was running out.

“We had something special that Carver didn’t have, a memory of the pain from last year,” Sorenson said. “We let out our battle cry, and the rest is history.”

The Eagles came back scoring 14 unanswered runs, and closer Daniel Wendell pitched the final 4 innings, giving up only 1 run, to seal the 21-11 victory and the school’s first junior high baseball championship.

As he joined in the post-game celebration, Sorenson realized the team’s main reason for success.

“Winning the championship was a great achievement by a bunch of hard-working players that accomplished their ultimate goal,” Sorenson said. “I am really proud of all the players!”

Some of the players also played on the JH football team that earlier in the fall lost the Fresno Unified championship game. So the baseball win also added another measure of satisfaction.