Prep baseball: Fiery end to season for Archie Williams in NCS loss

A last-inning rally effort, and Archie Williams High’s season, ended on a simple double play, a relatively quiet ending to a fiery playoff contest Tuesday.

The host Peregrine Falcons trailed Encinal by three runs in the top of the seventh inning, with the bases loaded and one out. Jets reliever Anthony Wilson, working with a full count, forced the batter to hit into a ground ball to second base for game-ending double play. It was just one more inning when the host Peregrine Falcons left runs on the bases during an 8-5 loss to the Jets in the first round of the North Coast Section Division III playoffs.

The Peregrine Falcons recovered from a six-run deficit with three runs in the fifth inning, as the game was just starting to heat up. Peregrine Falcons reliever Peter Irwin faced just four batters in the bottom of the fifth to keep the game close.

The Peregrine Falcons (11-12) managed to keep the Jets off the board in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Encinal’s Leo Paredes sprinted to third on a fly ball and then broke for home after a missed throw to third. Paredes collided with catcher Gilly Roth and missed the plate. Roth then tagged Paredes, who was lying on his back, but the call from the umpire didn’t come until after a kerfuffle broke out involving players, coaches and Paredes’ mother, who was standing in the bleachers near home plate.

The called third out incensed the Jets and continued to stoke the Falcons’ fires. But the Jets managed to extinguish Archie Williams’ hopes of an upset.

Despite stranding runners 90 feet from home plate four different times in the game, No. 11 seed Archie Williams managed to do enough damage at the plate to put a scare into the No. 6 Jets.

The Jets took advantage of Peregrine Falcons errors to score twice in the bottom of the second inning, but Archie Williams bounced back to tie the game in the top of the third. Miki Accomazzo drew a leadoff walk and two batters later scored on a groundout. A single by Roth brought Max Lefferts around for the tying run.

The Jets chased Peregrine Falcons starter Sam Black from the mound during a five-run outburst in the bottom of the third. Wilson launched a two-run homer over the center field fence. With the bases loaded and two outs, Irwin walked Evan Furuichi, scoring Matan Antebi. A two-run single by Angus Olaes gave Encinal a 7-2 lead. The Jets stretched their lead to 8-2 in the fourth inning.

The Peregrine Falcons regained some ground in the fifth inning. Roth got the ball going with a single to the center field fence to score Joey Altman. But some poor baserunning on the play potentially cost the Peregrine Falcons another run. Jack Evans escaped a pickle at second base to scramble to third base, but that left Lefferts stuck between home plate and third with nowhere to go for the inning’s second out. A groundout to second base two batters later ended the rally.