By PETE BANDA
Special to the NEWS
RIO HONDO—The fallout of COVID-19 left many local athletic programs playing catch up after a lost season of play. For Rio Hondo, the lost year seemed to have a magnified effect as every program missed the playoffs for the first time in over two decades the year after the shutdown.
As the 2022-2023 school year comes to an end, it’s clear the Bobcats are back at the top of the mountain as almost every sport saw the boys and girls make the playoffs.
Perhaps the biggest surprise for those on the outside looking in was the unprecedented success of the baseball team who just wrapped up their most impressive season in team history after posting a school record 28 wins. After a historical playoff run that saw the ’Cats pull some improbable upsets, Rio Hondo ultimately fell to the number one ranked 3A school in the State – the London High School Pirates out of Corpus Christi.
“It was a great test for us, and even though we came up short, I think the future is bright for our program, and we have a chance to be even better than next year,” said Head Coach Sergio Gonzalez who just wrapped up his 15th season at the helm. “We’re only losing three players from this team with most of the team coming back for two more years. We will build off the success of this season and hopefully maintain the level of play we established early on.”
The Pirates swept the Bobcats by a combined score of 10-2 over the two contests pushing their State best winning streak to 18 games. Despite the loss, Rio Hondo became the first team to score a single run against London in the entire playoffs as the Pirates had outscored their last four opponents by a combined score of 51-0.
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