Going into the final game of the season at Morley Field with playoff hopes already out the door, San Diego City College’s baseball team was coming in with momentum on its side.

But even that wasn’t enough for the Knights and Coach Chris Brown to take a season-ending win over visiting Southwestern College, falling 16-2 on April 24.

“It’s been kind of a roller coaster, up and down,” Brown said. “We’ve had some absolutely stellar performances.”

The Knights (13-25, 6-19 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Conference) had just pulled off back-to-back comeback victories over conference rival Southwestern, both at home and away. 

This time against the Jaguars, City struck first at the bottom of the opening inning, with a home run to left field by sophomore center fielder Anthony Mattheson.

That was followed by sophomore infielder Daniel Tatis hitting a single, which allowed sophomore outfielder Andres Johnson to run to home and put the Knights up, 2-0.

But with only two innings left in the regular season, Southwestern started a comeback of its own against the Knights, just City had done in the previous two games.

By the top of the seventh, Southwestern scored seven unanswered runs against the Knights and never looked back.

Despite the team losing the last game of the season and clouds rolling in overhead to add to the somber atmosphere, Brown was still proud of how the team had played throughout the season.

Brown highlighted freshman pitcher Aiden Kuei, who  started the game before being taken out in the seventh inning.

“It was really a one-sided game all the way up until he started leaving the ball up in the zone a little bit,” Brown said. “He was getting a little bit tired, but he’s one of the better arms in the conference. He’s thrown a no-hitter, the first no-hitter that I’ve had here in City College.”

Brown also praised the rest of his team for its efforts this season and looks forward to next spring.

“Great group of guys, hardworking guys,” Brown said. “It’s been a pleasure to be around them and to coach them this year. We’ve got a core of freshmen that are going to be coming back next year that we’re excited about.”

This story was edited by Tresean Osgood and Nadia Lavin.