On Monday, May 9th, the Malden Varsity Baseball Team had a game against Gloucester at Pine Banks Park. The score was 5-0 Gloucester. The Malden Baseball Team has won four games and lost nine, out of thirteen games total. So far, they’ve beaten Revere, Medford, Everett and Somerville.
The team hopes to make more improvements before the baseball season ends and is encouraged to make a few more wins in order to make it to the State Tournament. This is the team’s top priority and are continuously working their hardest to make it happen. The new coaching staff, Coach Freker telling his team that their “catches are strong” and motivating the players in every way to keep going through half of the game when the Malden team were still at zero points. At this point, the team began to lose some confidence but with the help from the coach, they made more effort to keep their head in the game and try their best.
Senior James Calo said “the only thing [they] could’ve done is just hit the ball. Gilligan pitched really well and [they] played well defensively, [they] just didn’t hit the ball. Credit to the opposing pitcher but we can’t let that happen.”
Sophomore Reid Kankel said “[their] infield was a real lockdown, James (Jimmy) Pandolfo hit a double.” Pandolfo made it to second base with ease “and was excellent with the glove. Jared Martino was remarkable behind the dish, [mound].” The outfield was hungry, they didn’t allow a ball to touch the outfield grass.”
Though the game wasn’t as successful as the team might’ve hoped for, the team tried their hardest and to the best of their ability. Not only individually, but as a whole team.
The team’s strongest weakness would be trying to get back up after a team loss. This is one of the most important things that a sports team must learn because without it, people begin to lose confidence and start thinking every game they have will always be a loss. The team is still working on their consistency but with this, when the baseball team accomplishes this goal, it’ll be a great advantage for them to beat the opponents.
