Tuesday, April 12th. The second game of the season. Bottom of the fourth inning. Senior captain Aidan Mclaren steps up to the plate facing a pitcher throwing above 90 miles an hour. The pitch comes in and SMACK. Maclaren hits a fly ball to right field, which flies over the head of the right fielder, which earns Masters their first double of the game.
Due to Covid, for the last two years the boy’s varsity baseball team endured canceled games and shortened seasons, not knowing the next time they would be able to step onto the field.
This season, their first real one back, the coaches and players were ready to get back to work. Head coach Neil Jaggernauth expressed his excitement for the season ahead.
Jaggernauth said, “This group of kids is always great. All three years that I’ve been here, they come with great attitudes and show great effort, this has been one of the most rewarding teams I’ve ever worked with.”
At the beginning of the season, the coaches organized a vote among the players on the team in order to elect two captains. They chose to elect seniors Ethan Rosenberg and Aidan Maclaren. However, three weeks into the season, Rosenberg and Maclaren decided that they wanted a third senior captain. Another team vote was held and senior Ethan Schlapp became the third senior captain of the boys varsity baseball team.
Senior Captain Ethan Rosenberg said, “It’s been great having three captains on the field; we all have a lot of fun and we work really well together.”
So far, the team has played in two games, the first against Rye Country Day and the second at home against King. In the first game, 10th grade Henry Hubner, one of the five pitchers on the team pitched 6 out of the 7 innings. Hubner let up seven runs, three of which were errors. In the sport, an error is an act, in the judgment of a fielder misplaying a ball in a manner that allows a batter or baserunner to advance. Ben New, a junior on the team, noted how well Hubner pitched.
New said, “It was really cool to watch and for our first game, he played really well.”
For the rest of the season, the boys varsity baseball team is ready to keep working hard and win some games.
Senior Aidan Mclaren said, “I’m excited for the rest of the season, I hope we can win a few games and maybe slide into the NYSAIS playoffs if we are lucky.”