Kentridge loses second game in a row in walk-off fashion
Published 1:30 pm Friday, March 20, 2026
In baseball, having a short memory is essential, and moving past mistakes is the key to success.
The Kentridge Chargers have now lost back-to-back games in heart-breaking fashion.
On March 17, Kentridge took a 6-0 lead into the seventh against Emerald Ridge. The Jaguars went on to score seven runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk off the Chargers. It wasn’t as dramatic two days later, but Kentridge was walked off for a second straight game, this time on a wild pitch against the Liberty Patriots.
“It’s definitely frustrating, especially getting walked off the game before and now this one. We are trying to get the guys to put it all together. We’ve got all the pieces to make it work. We’ve got a lot of guys in new spots and we’ve just got to fight as a team. It’s a tough situation,” head coach Sheldon Stober said.
Heading into the seventh inning on March 19, Kentridge trailed 1-0. Some momentum came when the Chargers scored their first run on a game-tying single from Donovan Lopez. But in the home half of the seventh with two outs, a wild pitch from Landon Todd allowed the winning run to come across.
Both teams knew it was going to be a top-tier pitching matchup with both teams throwing their number one arm. For Liberty, it was Tate Tuininga, and the Chargers threw junior Akoni Nazarino.
“We’ve told Akoni he is our guy on the mound. We need him to be efficient with his pitches. Today he was really efficient, he did great. He did exactly what we were trying to get him to do. He’s going to be a big piece for this group,” Stober said.
Nazarino knew he was going to have to match Tuininga, and he did. Nazarino went four strong innings, striking out eight, allowed just two hits, and didn’t give up a walk or hit by pitch on 53 pitches.
“My main focus this year going into my junior year is limit the free bases. Getting ahead, trusting my defense, catcher and calls my coaches call (help). I just go out and compete,” Nazarino said.
The offense struggled against Liberty pitching for six innings. Tuininga worked off his velocity, which put Kentridge on its heels. Then the Patriots went to Andrew Steffin, who was a soft throwing left-hander, which threw off the Chargers’ timing in the opposite direction.
Nazarino hasn’t taken any at-bats to focus on pitching, but as one of the veterans on this Charger team, he has taken a leadership role.
“I felt that flat energy in the first couple innings. But you just gotta step up, the older guys have to step up, talk and keep the energy up,” Nazarino said.
The Chargers did get some traffic on the bases early, and with runners on first and second with his nine hole at the plate, Stober let Donovan Lopez swing it. In the seventh, with one out and in the same situation, Lopez knocked in the Chargers’ lone run of the night on a single to left field.
“He was very aggressive. We have been trying to teach middle-away, trying to get them to go that direction, and he has been doing that. He had a bit of a struggle at the beginning of the year. To see him have quality at-bats means a lot. He’s so fast so you want him on the bases,” Stober said.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Todd retired the first two Patriot hitters before hitting Brady Carroll with a pitch. Carroll would scoot around the bases following two wild pitches and eventually scored on a third wild pitch that snuck by Josh Lueck.
Kentridge opens up with a rivalry series against Kentwood to start the NPSL league season on March 24-25. “Being a coach you don’t expect to have back-to-back games like that where you get walked off. It’s good adversity for these kids. They’ve got to experience failure and frustration. It makes them want it more in the end,” Stober said.
