Michael Gilligan ’26 throws a passionate pitch toward the opponent.
On Friday, Baseball played strong with a win against Winchendon at home but fell to the team at an away game on Saturday. On Tuesday, Andover then fell short against Brooks. Its record now stands at 3-6.
Rishi Rane ’25 commented on the consecutive games against Winchendon and the preparation leading up to each game. Although Andover started off strong, it did not produce the results the next day.
“Saturday we played Winchendon. We lost 7-4. It was a bit of a tough game. It was a close game for most of the game. But, kind of at the end, we lost it… They are definitely a good team. They’ve got a lot of talented guys… The week before practice, we were just really dialed in. We know they are a good team, so we just made sure in all of our reps, we weren’t messing around,” said Rane.
Rane continued, “We played Brooks on Tuesday. It was a close game throughout, we were up early, but we kind of lost it towards the end again. We had some good hitting, but we came up short in a couple crucial moments.”
Baseball played with composure and persisted against Brooks, despite its pitcher striking out nine Andover players and only giving one walk off. Robert Brown ’25 highlighted Co-Captain Luke Gallo ’25 for his standout hits.
“Luke Gallo did really well. He had a couple clutch hits, good hits. He also made a bunch of plays in the field. He had a ton of opportunities in the field, and he didn’t make any errors. And he had some big hits late in the game. They didn’t come through, but he did his job when it mattered,” said Brown.
Owen Callahan ’26 echoed Brown, highlighting Gallo’s defensive performance against a talented Brooks team. Brooks had three runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth to earn their second come-from-behind road victory in the last six days.
“Luke Gallo had some pretty good plays at shortstop. He had no errors. He played very well. He held down shortstop very well,” said Callahan.
Rane also credited Cam Willems ’24 for his performance throughout the game, a standout offensive player in these games. As a hitter, Willems has focused his efforts on making sure to get lots of contact with the ball.
“The hitters have definitely been a lot better. Cam Willems, he has had a really hot last couple games. Really productive, weather that’s bunting or just getting hits that fall. He has been extremely productive with the bat. But as a team, we are just stepping it towards the end of the season,” said Rane.
Although Brooks led with three runs, Andover kept a positive outlook on the game, noted Danny Flynn ’25. The team then gained momentum, almost tying the game near the conclusion.
“In the sixth inning, we were down four to one and it could have been pretty easy for people to accept the loss, but we did rally back. We scored two runs, which kept us in the game, so it reminded us that we have a fight in us, which is good. This is something that we’ve always been looking for throughout the year. That’s something to be happy about,” said Flynn.
With 13 games remaining until the playoffs at the end of the season, Rane commented on the program’s direction going forward and focus areas for the team to improve on.
“We are still in a good position to keep going with the season. We are about half-way there games wise. The league is wide open, there’s a lot of opportunity to go up, so we’re going to put our best foot forward and if we win the next few games, we’ll be in a good position for the playoffs,” said Rane.
Baseball will play Groton School, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Cushing in the upcoming week.
