PIEDMONT — Despite not playing in 11 days, there was no rust on Piedmont’s baseball team.
The two-seeded Highlanders looked rejuvenated in their 5-0 win over No. 10 Hercules in the second round of the North Coast Section Division IV playoffs on Saturday. Piedmont will play McKinleyville at home in the semifinals.
“I thought our guys were super fresh,” said Piedmont coach Eric Olson. “We had a lot of games towards the end of the season. All in all, I was super happy with the way the guys came out today.”
Piedmont junior Shafer Dando was 2 for 3 with four RBIs and Markos Lagios had two hits and a run.
Pitcher John Olsen pitched a complete game shutout, striking out two and allowing seven hits.
“We know we have to have our effort increase,” Dando said about playing in the playoffs. “We just have to play clean ball. That’s it.”
Piedmont jumped on Hercules in the first inning.
Junior Will Parker got things going by knocking in Lagios on an RBI single to right field. Later in the inning, Dando hit a ball deep to center field that nearly went over the wall to score Parker and senior Peter Krumins, giving Piedmont a 3-0 lead.
On defense, the Highlanders were just as good. Olson pitched into contact, allowing his fielders to do most of the work.
With runners on first and third in the second inning and one out, Piedmont executed a 6-4-3 double play to get out of the jam.
In the sixth inning, Dando made an incredible play catching a flyout in right field, then throwing out a runner tagging from second.
“That was the first time I really got to throw someone out,” Dando said. “I got to show off my arm a little bit for sure.”
Dando put the game out of reach for Hercules in Piedmont’s half of the fifth inning. His RBI double that scored Krumins and Dimitri Papahadjopoulos made the score 5-0 as the Highlanders cruised to an easy playoff victory.
“I loved that he wasn’t trying to do too much,” Olson said. “He had four of our five RBIs and that’s what we need. We need guys to step up and deliver in the middle of the lineup.”
While Hercules gave a valiant effort, the Titans came short of reaching the NCS semifinals. Hercules coach Louis Montgomery said he was proud of the way his team battled all year.
The Titans upset No. 7 Fort Bragg on Wednesday, despite having to travel over three hours for their game. Hercules came in second in the Tri-County Athletic League Stone Division.
“It was one of the best seasons I had in my seven years here,” Montgomery said. “If every season can end like this, even though it didn’t end how we wanted, I’d be happy for sure.”
