An impressive three-game series sweep against league rival Chadwick marked the end of a roller coaster season for the boys varsity baseball team. Finishing with a 12-10 overall record and 8-4 in league, the team clinched a spot in the CIF-SS Division IV playoffs.
But as luck would have it, the Panthers drew the number one team in the division, the Crean Lutheran Saints. Poly, suddenly the underdogs, did their best to look past the formidable stature of the Saints.
Junior Luke Kim commented on their positive approach to the game, reflecting, “The final game was definitely a roller coaster. We went into it with nothing to lose, and we gave it our best shot.” The boys played valiantly, but the roller coaster encountered more downs than ups, ending in a lopsided 3-24 loss for Poly.
Although a disappointing end, to come as far as the boys did after a season of adversity was a stunning feat in itself. Two main hindrances stood out. First, unpredictable weather and an onslaught of rain frequently interfered with practices.
Freshman Alex Chui explained, “Poly already has a late start to their season, with no fall ball practices or games, and the entirety of January practices being rained out definitely put us even further behind some other programs with earlier starts.”
Second, the team took a hit when the former head coach stepped down. Chui shared, “The most obvious challenge was the mid-season switch in the head coach. The team overcame this by controlling the controllable and focusing more on having each other’s backs and utilizing the captains as our conduits for leadership.”
Nowhere was that leadership more apparent than among the seniors. The only freshman on the team, Chui said of the senior game, “It was one of the highlights of the season, as we got to watch the group of seniors go out on the field together for one last time. All of them were great role models for the underclassmen, and seeing them have fun and win one of the most important league games of the season was a great experience.”
