It can be argued that Wednesday, May 19, 2021 may go down as the most successful day in the history of Dublin High School Athletics that did not involve postseason championships, as six Varsity level teams all came away victorious – Baseball, Boys Basketball, Boys/Girls Soccer, and Boys/Girls Volleyball.
The Boys Volleyball team capped a perfect 8-0 season by going on the road to defeat Amador Valley in four sets. Although the season was shortened by the pandemic, it is noteworthy in that it was the first undefeated season in the program’s history as well as the team’s first winning season since claiming an NCS crown 20 years ago (2001).
Another team that remained unbeaten in 2021 was the Boys Soccer team, as they improved to 3-0-1 after posting a 2-0 victory at Foothill. Caede McMahon and Jordan Minor each scored goals to lift the Gaels. The team will be finishing the season with its Senior Night on Monday, May 24th against Dougherty Valley at Gaels Stadium (7:30) in a game that can be viewed in-person or on GaelsTV.
Speaking of Senior Nights, two teams that celebrated Senior Nights with wins included the Girls Soccer team and Boys Basketball teams.
The Girls Soccer team was locked in a scoreless tie against Foothill until the 51st minute when Kailey Matta scored off of a pass from Amelie Chabot for what proved to be the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory over the Falcons to improve its record to 2-1-1. Dublin concludes its season at Dougherty Valley next Wednesday, May 26th (6:00).
Dublin’s Boys Basketball team came out locked in on the defensive end, pressuring from full court, and getting a lot of tips and steals to take control early against Pittsburg. The Gaels built a 20-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and were up 45-17 at the break before coming away with an 80-47 victory over the Pirates. Jon Cartago had an amazing second half where he got 21 of 25 points to lead the Gaels in scoring. Dublin improved to 8-1 and look to continue their four game win streak against San Ramon Valley High School on May 20th in the Auxiliary Gym against a Wolves team that were one of the few to knock off the Gaels in its historic 2019-2020 season. The team will be returning to the Sports Complex on May 21st at 7:00 in a game against emerging powerhouse Granada which can be viewed on GaelsTV.
Two other teams which prevailed in extremely close contests on the road were the Girls Volleyball and Baseball teams.
The Girls Volleyball team won in a marathon match that lasted nearly three hours before outlasting Amador Valley. All three of the sets that Dublin won were by extremely close margins – 26-24, 25-23, and 17-15 in the decisive 5th set. With the win, Dublin is now 5-1 on the season and is set to face the Dons in a rematch less than 24 hours later for their Senior Night (Thursday, 5/20 at 6:00 p.m. in the Sports Complex) in the team’s season-finale that GaelsTV is live-streaming.
Not to be outdone in terms of the theatrics, the Baseball team went on the road to face Dougherty Valley in a game which it built an early 10-0 lead and carried a seemingly insurmountable 15-8 advantage into the final inning before withstanding a late Wildcats rally to win a wild 15-14 affair. Dublin will be squaring off in a rematch against Dougherty Valley for Senior Night and the team’s season finale on Friday, May 21st at 4:00.
