While the Palo Alto High School baseball team has not had a great start to their season, the season is still young and the team is finally getting into a rhythm. Overall, the team has a 3-6 record and is 2-2 in league play. The record may suggest that the team is playing poorly, but they actually have faced their toughest opponents and have a relatively easier schedule from here on out. After starting out with four losses and no wins, the team picked up a series sweep against Saratoga High School, with whom they shared the league title with last year.

Paly decidedly won the first game at Saratoga with a score of 18-9 and rallied to beat the Falcons at home with a score of 6-4. Paly looks even more well-rounded with every game, with a core of seniors leading the way and younger players following in their footsteps.

Senior shortstop Jack Cleasby is performing strongly on the offensive end, with a batting average of .414. Not far behind are younger players, such as junior outfielder Phil Lewis and sophomore infielder Owen Plambeck. Plambeck leads the team with two home runs and will surely be a staple of the team in future years. After the Saratoga series, the Vikings went on to beat Carlmont High School 7-2 before starting a home and away series with Wilcox High School. On March 19 at Palo Alto, the Vikings lost to visiting Wilcox by a score of 7-3.

Two days later, the Vikings traveled to Wilcox, where they were unable to avenge their loss. The Vikings lost a hard-fought game on March 21 with a score of 1-0. Up next, Paly will travel to Los Altos High School for the second game of a two-game series on March 28. The Vikings are starting to hit their stride, and will be looking to continue their strong recent efforts throughout league play and the rest of the season.

“We’ve had a good start, we’ve had some good battles,” Lewis said. “We just need to keep to our style of play and we should be set.”