With the playoffs opening on May 14, the boys’ varsity baseball team hosted league rival Fowler. After defeating Fowler 15-5, the boys traveled to long time rival Immanuel on May 16. However, the boys’ magic disappeared in Reedley.

Trailing 2-0 entering the top of the seventh, the Eagles loaded the bases with two outs but failed to score when Seth Fisher, ’04, struck out on a 3-2 fastball. It was the fourth year in a row FC has lost to Immanuel in the playoffs.

“To come so close and then lose like that was hard to take,” head coach Jon Hall said. “We give them a good game every year but the breaks just don’t seem to come our way.”

Eagles starting pitcher Jon Steele, ’03, surrendered a run in the third inning on a bunt single, an error, and an RBI single. Immanuel added another run in the sixth on a bloop RBI single by Kevin Sousa, which followed a lead off double by Jacob Wild.

“The only ball that was hit hard was Wild’s double,” Steele said. “The rest of the hits I gave up were just bloops or happened to find a hole in our defense. I really wanted to win this game since I have not beaten Immanuel in my entire sports career but I guess that just wasn’t meant to be.”

In the earlier innings, the Eagles missed several prime opportunities to score, including in the fourth when they had runners on second and third with one out but failed to bring them home.

“We had a lot of chances to win the game, both in the early innings and at the end,” Fisher said. “It would have been nice to have had a lead going into the final inning but what it comes down to is I choked.”

The Eagles mounted their final offensive threat in the seventh on a walk to Justin Shanen, ’04, a single by Steele, and an infield single by Evan Sanders, ’03. That loaded the bases for Fisher, who swung at a 3-1 fastball at his eyes and then struck out on a fastball right down the middle of the plate.

The boys’ finished with a 16-9 record overall and a West Sierra League Championship.