Auburn Riverside baseball falls to Kentridge as playoff hopes hang in balance

Published 5:38 pm Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Auburn Riverside’s baseball team entered the series against Kentridge needing to win to clinch a playoff berth with a win in game one. But now the situation is a bit stickier as the Chargers came over to Auburn Riverside and beat the Ravens 6-2 on April 28.

Kentridge rattled off two runs in the top of the first, including one from a first and third play where a deke from the runner on first base allowed the runner from third to score. Kentridge came out hot, while Auburn Riverside came out for naught.

“The message was simple, you gotta go out and take it. It looked like maybe we were waiting for someone to hand us something for free. We are playing a team that is fighting for their lives and we looked like someone was going to hand it to us,” head coach Brad Comstock said.

Kaeden Morgan is the horse for Comstock. The senior lefthander has game dominating potential, but a slow start against Kentridge put Auburn Riverside behind the eight ball.

“It was not our night. That is kind of the way the ball was bouncing,” Comstock said.

A 10-pitch at-bat led to a Levi Baca home run in the second inning against Morgan and another run came across via double in the third inning with two out. But after the four runs in three innings, Morgan eventually got in his groove.

“I thought he settled in there toward the end. Walking the leadoff guy is usually a problem to start the game,” Comstock said. “I thought we made a quality pitch on a 2-2 pitch and shouldn’t have got to that. But that was only one of the six runs tonight.”

Auburn Riverside’s bats found some life late in the game against Charger starter Akoni Nazarino. Back-to-back walks put pressure on Nazarino in the bottom of the sixth and Owen Johnson lined a ball between the legs of Levi Baca to score one. Hayden Hatcher hit a double that one-hopped the wall in right field to bring the tying run to the plate with two out in the sixth. Parker Workman struck out, ending the rally.

That was all the momentum the Ravens could muster as Kentridge added to their lead with two runs in the seventh. In the home half, Madden Figliola started the inning with an infield single. But the next three Ravens went down in order.

In terms of the playoff picture, Auburn Riverside now has work to do. They are tied for third with Mount Rainier at 6-5 in league play, Kentridge and Kentwood are tied at 5-6 one game back of Auburn Riverside and Mount Rainier. “It’s the same message as before, everything we want is still right in front of us. Nothing really changed tonight. We gotta go win, man,” Comstock said.

The Ravens take on Kentwood in their final series of the season, each game carries massive weight as game two for Auburn Riverside and Kentridge is set for April 29.