By TOM HRICIK

It wasn’t for lack of trying. Down by six runs, the Avonworth baseball team fought back inning by inning against Monaca.

And it wasn’t for lack of enthusiasm, as the dugout and fans shouted non-stop calls of encouragement.

But it just wasn’t to be, and so the season ended in the first playoff game last Tuesday with an 8-6 loss.

“It’s really hard to lose the first round of playoffs in your senior year. I think we played a really good game, but the mental mistakes hurt us in the end,” said Sean Wintermantel, senior third baseman.

Mental mistakes accounted for some of the missed opportunities to turn the game around.

After Monaca scored five runs in the first inning and three in the second, their threat basically ended. Avonworth, however, had six unanswered runs through the fifth inning. And then Avonworh had chances to turn it around, with the bases loaded in the fifth inning, two on in the sixth inning, and one on in the seventh inning. However, nobody capitalized on all of the chances to take the lead.

The team ended with an overall victorious 10-0 record in their section, something that the Avonworth community has not seen in more than 30 years.