The last few days have been some of the most thrilling of the season for Dublin High Athletics, as the Gaels won several key games in heroic fashion to bolster their playoff chances.
Dublin’s Softball team posted the most dramatic of those wins, coming back from a 10-6 deficit in the final inning to defeat Amador Valley 11-10. AJ Avelar hit a three-run homer to tie it, and then Tanaya Barrett knocked in the winning run to cap the dramatic comeback. The victory was huge because it puts the Gaels back in North Coast Section playoff contention heading into the final four games of the regular season. Dublin’s next home game is TODAY (Thursday, April 28th at 4:00) against a Foothill squad in which it lost in extra innings during their first encounter.
The Baseball team had their own dramatic win over Amador Valley, winning their fourth consecutive game by an identical 3-2 to improve their winning streak to 5 and their overall record to 13-7-1. Jack Maggiora through six innings and only gave up three hits to keep the Dons offense in check. Dublin was led offensively by KJ Sweeney, Anthony Wang, and Brendan Moddelmog, each tallying two hits apiece. Moddelmog also scored the go-ahead run in the 6th inning that put Dublin on top for good on a basehit by TJ Costello, and then came on the mound to record the save in the final inning. The Gaels are currently fighting for a home East Bay Athletic League playoff game if they can climb to second place in the Valley Division, and host their final three regular season contests starting this Friday, April 29th against Foothill (4:00).
Two other teams with exciting wins this week include Badminton and Boys Lacrosse. The Badminton team went on the road to edge out Amador Valley 9-8. With the victory, the Gaels improved to 6-1 in EBAL action heading into their season finale at Dougherty Valley taking place TODAY. In Boys Lacrosse. Dublin came back from a 2-1 halftime deficit to score three consecutive goals, then hung on to defeat Granada 4-3 in a pivotal road game on Tuesday night. Alex Magnuson scored two goals to lead the Gaels and three of the team’s goals were assisted. Dublin was also bolstered by a strong defensive effort that limited the Matadors to just two shots on goal for the entire second half. The Gaels’ final game of the regular season will be on Friday, April 29th at Dougherty Valley at 7:00 p.m. With a victory, Dublin will finish with its highest winning percentage in the history of the program.
The Dublin Boys Volleyball embarked upon an unprecedented week with 5 matches by defeating California 3-0 on Monday afternoon before dropping the second half of a rare doubleheader to this year’s EBAL champion Amador Valley 3-2. The Gaels battled the Dons close throughout and lost the 5th set 15-11. Despite also losing to Foothill the following night, the Gaels are still well-positioned to earn one of the top 8 seeds and an NCS home match when the tournament bracket is released on Sunday. Dublin finishes the regular season with Senior Night taking place TODAY (Thursday, April 28th) against Dougherty Valley followed by the finale at home against Granada on Friday, April 29th. Both matches start at 6:00 p.m.
The top individual performances of the week though may have been registered by members of the Boys Golf team. Alex Suen shot a 72 and finished in 4th place out of 155 participants in the Transbay Tournament at Rossmoor on Monday, while Shreyas Tulsi finished in 8th place after shooting a 75. Dublin finishes the regular season today against Granada at Poppy Ridge and will likely qualify for the NCS Team Tournament with a win. The Gaels defeated the Matadors 206-226 earlier this season.
In this week’s other highlights thus far, the Girls Lacrosse team continued their strong offensive output of late by scoring 10 goals, but it was not enough as they dropped a close contest on the road to Foothill 13-10 on Wednesday night. Dublin will be having its Senior Night and final game of the season on Friday, April 29th against Dougherty Valley. The ceremony honoring the seniors will begin at 6:30 and the game starts at 7:00. The Boys Tennis team dropped a close 6-3 decision to Dougherty Valley on Tuesday and was seeking to play the spoiler role when they traveled to face the Falcons on Wednesday, but Dublin was defeated 8-1 to end the regular season at 9-9.
Looking ahead to other upcoming events, sophomore Karthikeya Gannavarapu nabbed the #1 seed for the EBAL Boys Tennis Singles Tournament that begins TODAY (Thursday, April 28th) at Crow Canyon Country Club. The winner of the tournament will earn an automatic berth into the NCS Tournament. The Swim team will be competing in the EBAL Championships on April 29-30 at Dougherty Valley, and the first day of the EBAL Track and Field Championships will be taking place at Dublin High School this Saturday, April 30th starting at 9:00 a.m. The final day of the meet will be next Saturday, May 7th (9:00 a.m.)
