WJ baseball team’s season came to abrupt end on Friday, May 15, in a 7-3 loss to Northwest in the first round of the state playoffs. After starting the season 6-0, the team lost five out of seven games before winning the last three toward the end of the regular season.
Coach Kim Ahearn led the Wildcats in his 30th year as a staff member at WJ with an impressive line up led by senior captains Carson Kenney, Mac Gill and Robin Mowatt. Talent ran all through the team this season, but fourth-seeded WJ was picked to play No. 13 Northwest, a team they had previously lost to 4-3, as their first round matchup.
The Cats tried to use their three-game winning streak as momentum in the playoffs, but an error-filled game against the Jaguars quickly shattered any hopes of moving on further in playoffs.
Reflective of their 12-5 record, the Wildcats finished one of their best regular seasons in a while, especially with a powerful offense led by Kenney, Gill, and fellow senior teammate Sam Knecht, all of whom hit above .450 during the regular season. Pitching also seemed to be a bright spot along the way as Mowatt earned an impressive 1.50 ERA and 45 strikeouts along with senior Sam Coe who had a 0.83 ERA with 25 strikeouts to go along with a 2-1 record.
The team had to prove a lot going into the season and used that as motivation to impress other baseball teams. According to Kenney, the team “had this mentality that we had to play with a chip on our shoulder for us to earn the respect of other teams in this county.”
The season was highlighted early on with a 2-1 loss to top-ranked and (at that point) undefeated Wootton. In a highly anticipated matchup with the stands almost filled with spectators, WJ kept the game within their reach, but could not get more than one run. The Patriots were rated high among Montgomery County baseball followers, including The Gazette, but the Wildcats competitiveness against the powerhouse turned heads in their direction as the season progressed. The close loss followed the six-game win streak.
“After we won six games in a row we started to get some recognition and I knew we were on the right track,” said Kenney.
The Wildcats’ next game was another tough opponent as they faced the Whitman Vikings and lost by one run, 4-5. After a solid win against Churchill 4-1, the Cats would go on to lose their next two games against Northwest and Gaithersburg.
With their season having ups and downs, WJ then played another well-matched game against Sherwood and this time won 2-1 in eight innings. By the end of the season, the team was 12-5, the team felt that it was their year to make noise in the playoffs. With the playoff loss to Northwest, the team was gravely disappointed to see their heartfelt season come to end.
As he reflected about the disappointing end to the season Kenney said, “Potential doesn’t really mean much if you can’t produce.”
However, Ahearn believes that despite the losing eight quality seniors, the up and coming underclassmen will provide another exciting season for the Wildcats
“Though it appears next year will be a rebuilding year, I believe we have the potential to pick up where we left off,” said Ahearn.
