Matt Weiner, Baseball Beat Reporter (@mattweiner20)
(Photo credit SJSU Athletics)
Joey Cammaratta flew the Spartans into plane-toppling turbulence to begin the seventh inning. He walked the first batter, plunked the next two, leading to a quick hook and the arrival of Brady Hill.
Hill was given the unfortunate task of preventing any of the three inherited base runners from touching the plate with the score knotted up at three. It was painstakingly similar to the one Winston Wolf took care of in “Pulp Fiction,” just with less blood and lower stakes.
The first two hitters he faced both struck out and the third was down to an inch of his life, facing a 1-2 count.
Striking out the side in the Mountain West Championship Game, after coming in with the bases loaded during a tied ball game was too good to be true.
The offspeed pitch was intended to meet catcher Makana Olaso’s glove in the dirt, and ended up belt high. To make matters worse, the ball took a 15-foot bounce off right fielder James Shimashita’s glove, providing an opportunity for Matt Thompson to score from first.
Following another bloop shot to right that scored two more runs, the Falcons turned the Spartans pulseless and had to wait two and a half innings to place them in their grave.
The frustration from the bloop-shot debacle turned into chest-squeezing shock after the Spartans had to watch Air Force dogpile the night away.
It’s not easy having to watch another team smile, fist bump, dap, and embrace one another. One can only imagine what that kind of pain feels like. Emphasis on imagine.
The ending of the 2022 season for the Spartans isn’t a happy one.
But, a harrowing ending shouldn’t taint the entire journey.
Especially a journey like the one the Spartans embarked on.
Actually, journey might not be the right word to describe what has transpired since February.
Quest could be better fitting because this season was a mission, bounded by a need to compete day in and day out.
Regardless, the mission was a success.
2022 was the first time the Spartans won two conference tournament games and won 30 games since 2011.
It was the first time in program history the Spartans made it to the Mountain West Championship Game.
All this from a team that won six games a year ago, the lowest total in program history.
Brief recognition doesn’t do the massive improvement justice.
Although no trophy came out of it, this is a story that deserves to be bronzed over and put on a mantle at Excite Ballpark.
Same goes for performances from the likes of Jack Colette, Jonathan Clark, Darren Jansen and countless others.
A team doesn’t win two games in a tournament that they haven’t been to since 2018 and walk away with a memory bank that’s stuffed with lowlights.
Indelible marks were left on school history this past weekend in San Diego and since the season began on February 18 against Nebraska Omaha.
Memories should be ensconced by every positive emotion besides satisfaction.
Satisfaction is a close relative of complacency and a gateway drug into mirroring the team’s of the past that didn’t have any postseason success to show for when the season ended.
The ending of 2022 is merely the beginning of something new.