Providence baseball’s comeback falls short in first-round exit
After falling behind in its CIF Southern Section playoff game Friday against Foothill Technology, the Providence High baseball team had its share of opportunities to get back into the Division VI first-round contest.
Although Providence cut an early deficit in half, it was never able to fight its way completely back, suffering a 4-2 road loss.
The loss ended the season for the Pioneers (8-4), which placed second in the Liberty League.
“We just didn’t perform like we should have today,” Providence Coach Steven Knez said. “We had our opportunities and we were in the game all the way to the end. But we had some chances and we just weren’t able to cash in on them.
“In the playoffs, you have to come through when you have your opportunities. We just didn’t get the hits when we needed them the most.”
Foothill Technology (17-7), which won a championship in the Frontier League, scored a run in the first inning and added three in the third to take a 4-0 lead.
“After they scored those runs, that was it for them,” Knez said. “I think our guys came out a little flat and that’s when they were able to score their runs.”
The Pioneers got on the board with a run in the fifth inning. Alec Saavedra singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Steven Knezevich.
Providence added a run in the seventh to make it 4-2. Saavedra walked and was plated by a single by Knezevich.
Saavedra had a hit and three walks.
“It’s tough losing in the first round of the playoffs,” Knez said. “And this one is kind of tough to swallow because we felt this was a game that we could have won. But we just weren’t able to pull it off.”
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