A year after a heart wrenching 2-0 defeat in the first round of Central Coast Section (CCS), the Palo Alto High School baseball team once again got knocked out before their time.

The Vikings were truly dominant during the 2017 season, winning all but one game during league play and brushing aside their foes during the tournament.

But one opponent stood above the rest, and was able to vanquish the Paly juggernaut that was seeded 15 spots higher than them: the Archbishop Mitty Monarchs.

The game was dominated by pitching, as both starting pitchers went the full seven innings, and neither allowed an earned run.

The sole difference in the closely contested match was an unearned run that scored on a miscue between senior shortstop Ethan Stern and junior prodigy Max Jung-Goldberg.

Even though the Vikings failed to flush their demons of the past and make it past the first round of the CCS tournament, the season was far from a failure.

“This years team was far and beyond the best, most fun team I have ever played for. All of us have grown very close over the course of the year, and even though we couldn’t pull out an actual ‘W’, the time I spent out here with all of these guys was more fullfilling then any stinking ring ever could be.”

Senior Michael Champagne

Now, the team looks to build off of what the team has accomplished over the last year. With 13 returning players, there is no doubt it will happen.

“We may not have won this year, but you can damn well be sure that we’ll be back and ready to play next season, and there will be nothing and no one in the entire CCS that has a shot at stopping us. “Next year we’ll come out with the same mountain lion mentality, just with an extra season of being starved. Nobody will be able to stop us.”

Junior Jake Varner