The thwack of the bat hitting the ball was audible from far away. The cheers of the audience pierced the air every time the Eagles scored a run.

By the end of the evening, the fans left the middle school field, proud that the boys baseball team had secured a 7-2 victory over opponent University High School of San Francisco.

Friday was the sixth game for the baseball team, which entered this game with a 2-3 overall record, coming off a hard loss to Gunderson High School, 23-1.

In the first three innings, the team scored seven runs, with Jacob Hoffman (12) hitting a grand slam (all four runners on base made it to home base). After seeing the exultation in the players’ faces, coach CJ Cali advised the players not to congratulate themselves too early after the seven-run haul; they heeded his advice and tried to finish the game strong.

“After my grand slam, I felt as if our team had the game under control,” Jacob said. “We were up 7-0, and our defense and pitching were shutting them down.”

University High did not manage to score any runs in the first two innings, but in the third inning, the Eagles’ defense let a run slip by, bringing the score to 7-1. Later in the game, the Eagles did not score any more runs, but University scored another run to bring the score to 7-2, the final score of the game.

Members of the team were very pleased with the game and thought that the weakest aspect of the team was slowly being strengthened.

“We played really well today,” Ayush Midha (10) said. “Most importantly, we played a solid game on defense, as we only had one error today. Defense has been our weakest spot for the season so far, so if we keep playing well on defense, we should have a pretty good season.”

Coach Cali was impressed with how well the team is functioning as a unit.

“I like the chemistry, positive attitude, and the way the players have started the season,” he said.

The boys team will face Summit Preparatory High School next Tuesday.