On Wednesday, May 27, varsity baseball’s Central Coast Section (CCS) run came to an end with an 8-3 loss against Palma High School in the Division II semifinals. This loss marked the end of an era for the Panthers, as it was head coach Shawn Scott’s final game coaching after a 16-year career with Burlingame.

Despite not emerging victorious against Palma, the matchup was preceded by a fantastic season. Burlingame placed first in the Peninsula Athletic League (PAL) Bay Division, finishing with a league record of 11-3, and defeated Leigh High School 2-0 in their CCS quarterfinals game on Saturday, May 23.

In the first few innings against Leigh, the Panthers had multiple chances to get runs on the board. In the bottom of the second inning, Burlingame had runners on second and third base with only one out. However, a strikeout and a popout along the first base line ended the inning.

In the bottom of the third inning, the Panthers’ offense had another golden opportunity to get on the board. But once again, with runners on second and third base, senior left fielder Drew Gall was thrown out at home on a ground ball, followed by a lineout to right field by senior first baseman Slade Flores.

“We hit probably three or four really hard line drives right to the outfielders. We didn’t swing at too many bad pitches,” Flores said. “I know we only got a couple hits, but that doesn’t really say what we did offensively and how we hit the ball hard.”

After three innings, the score remained deadlocked at 0-0 with each team only recording one hit and committing two defensive errors.

“I would say [we could] just make the routine plays more. There were a couple hard plays that we didn’t make. We’ve been pretty strong defensively, but [we] just [have to] keep working in practices and stuff,” Flores said.

In the top of the fourth inning, with a runner on second base, Leigh’s starting pitcher Tyler Burriss nearly hit a two-run home run, with the ball falling just short and being determined a foul ball. Following that, junior starting pitcher Mark O’Grady struck out the final two batters, leaving the game still scoreless.

Finally, in the bottom of the fifth inning, Burlingame scored. With runners on second and third base and two outs, Flores ripped a double down the third base line to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead.

“Great job capitalizing on a mistake pitch. We happened to put runners in motion, pitch or two before, trying to get that same situation, and he capitalized,” Scott said.

A key play that seemed to put a stop to any momentum Leigh still had came in the top of the sixth inning, when Flores made a diving catch on a line drive and tagged first base before the Leigh runner could get back for a double play, which had the entire Panthers’ dugout – and especially Scott – ecstatic.

Despite another error in the top of the seventh that put a runner on base, O’Grady finished the game having given up just five hits and received praise from the team.

“He pitched great, man, pitched great, all we can ask for,” Scott said.

Despite some missed routine plays, Scott said he was proud of the team’s performance and their ability to stay composed.

“They stayed in the game the whole time. The pressure didn’t get to them, the pressure didn’t get to [Leigh’s] guys either, so that’s what made for such a good game,” Scott said.

In a game that started out close, Burlingame ultimately failed to keep up with Palma High School in the CCS semifinals.

“We definitely had the opportunity to make it a close game, but I think our defensive work needed to be better, and our offense didn’t do our jobs,” junior starting pitcher Nash Trautwein said. “We let up one run in the first inning and came back bringing two in the second inning, and then it spiraled downhill from there. We only scored another run for the rest of the game, and we gave up another five.”

Junior second baseman Charlie Cheng agreed that the team’s performance fell short, particularly in areas where they have proven themselves before.

“They were able to hit the ball well, but also our defense didn’t do as well as usual. I think our defense is one of the best in the league, if not the best…, but we did not play up to that standard,” Cheng said.

Cheng said he felt the team’s failure to execute offensively and their defensive shortcomings contributed to the loss.

“There’s many things that we could have done better, just a lot of mistakes…, the physical errors on defense, we didn’t execute the situations that we could have had on offense,” Cheng said. “And those are just big things in the game of baseball. If you can’t execute and you can’t play clean defense and pitch well, then the other team will win.”

Trautwein said that the Panthers also struggled mentally against the Chieftains.

“I think the other team’s rowdiness definitely got to us, they were relaying signs, which definitely got into our head, and just their loud demeanors throughout the game definitely hurt us,” Trautwein said.

Despite the loss, Cheng said the team has a lot to be proud of from the season.

“[Shawn Scott] was just very emotional, just a lot going on, knowing that it was a very bad game, and a tough game to end the season on,” Cheng said. “But at the same time, we had to reflect back on the good we did throughout the year and all of the achievements we’ve made, and for it to be Shawn’s last year, and for us to win league and to accomplish the things that we did, it was very disappointing, but also happy in a way that we had a great season and a great run.”

Cheng said the fact that the game was the last time he would play with many of his senior teammates gave him motivation to fight until the end.

“We kind of grew up together, even though we might not be the best friends outside of school, we’re very close and brothers on the field,” Cheng said. “We see each other every day, and to know that it could be the last time ever touching the field with them really made us focus on the game and to try to live to see another day to play for the person next to each other.”

Looking towards next season, Cheng said that the team will have to adjust to the loss of 12 seniors and a new head coach.

“I think it’s just gonna be very different next year, not only with Shawn leaving but the amount of seniors that are leaving as well,” Cheng said. “It’s gonna look totally different next year, and so I think [we’ll be] building team chemistry within the new guys that come up, as well as figuring out our team identity, because a lot of these players that played this year have been playing together for the last three years. So being able to build chemistry with a new team next year will be pretty important.”

Cheng said he ultimately feels the team will find itself next year despite all the changes.

“The future is very unknown of the coach and how the team chemistry is going to be, because I can’t really picture a different team than what we had this year and the past two years, so it does feel very different, but I think we’ll end up okay,” Cheng said.