Baseball Sports Spring Sports

Andover Varsity Baseball Falls to Dexter in Quarterfinals


Despite strong defensive efforts, such as a diving catch in foul territory by infielder Matt Sapienza ’21, Andover Baseball ultimately fell 3-1 to Dexter Southfield for its only loss of the regular season on Wednesday, May 15. The team went on to fall to the same opponent 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Central New England Prep School Baseball League tournament at Brown University.

According to Head Coach Kevin Graber, the team has struggled in its past two games due to offensive woes.

“Our greatest challenge over the past few runs has been scoring runs. Our pitching and defense have been exceptional, in fact, as strong as I can remember in 11 years at Andover. But come playoffs, you run into teams that are really good, and we always face our opponents’ best pitchers. That can be a big challenge,” said Coach Graber.

Although the team did not perform as well as it wanted to in the tournament, many players feel as though the captains or other players stepped up and helped the team immensely.

Stowe said, “Most standout players are the same ones as usual, Tristan Latham, [Co-Captain] Jackson Emus [’19], and [Co-Captain] Andrew Ciufo [’19]. They have been great leaders this year. It definitely has been tough being the only seniors on the team this year and having to show the ropes to not only me and Peter Ling [’20], the only Uppers, but also to our 10 or 11 other Lowers on the team. They have done a great job of teaching them how we do things here but also of teaching Pete and I how to be leaders in this program.”

“Our Captains Andrew Ciufo and Tristan Latham have been amazing. Through the highest of highs and lowest of lows, they make sure everyone plays with energy and enthusiasm, perhaps the two most important on-field core values in our program” added Coach Graber.

Previously, Andover beat Exeter 6-1 and 1-0, Brooks 11-0, Cushing 9-2, and Deerfield 17-1 and 17-2. The team’s regular season record now stands at 13-1.

The team looks to get one more regular season win and improve its regular season record to 14-1 as it takes on Exeter away this Saturday.