Robert Brown ’25 roars passionately to celebrate a point.
5/18 Andover: 2 Deerfield: 3
5/21 Andover: 1 Austin Prep: 5
On Saturday, Boys Baseball competed in the Central New England Prep Baseball League (CNEPSBL) aemifinals as #5, falling short to #1 Deerfield in a close game. The team went on to lose against Austin Preparatory School on Tuesday.
Marek Krystofolski ’25 noted the excitement surrounding such a high stakes semifinals game. Everyone was excited going into the event, and despite losing, Krystofolski highlighted how all players worked their hardest.
Krystofolski said, “We were all excited. It was a big game, the semifinals. We were all hyped up and ready to go. Everybody was in a pretty good mood and looking to play. We were really excited for the game, and even though it wasn’t the outcome we wanted, we still played a good game. Everyone played their hearts out, which is good to see.”
According to Robert Brown ’25, during practice on the Wednesday before the game, there was a collision, resulting in two key players being out with substantial injuries. While this caused a stir in the team dynamic, it also gave it motivation to play for those that could not.
“We were certainly facing adversity though since two of our players had a collision during practice on Wednesday, so we were missing our expected starting centerfielder. This led to two of our players going down with pretty significant injuries. The team was definitely rattled, but our team motto going into the game on Saturday was to play for them since they would have loved to be able to play,” said Brown.
Krystofolski gave recognition to Luke Gallo ’25, Isaac Lamson ’24 and Jace Roossien ’24 for scoring two runs in the beginning of the game, putting the team ahead. Although it did not work out in the end, the early scored points raised the morale and got the team excited for the remainder of the game.
Krystofolski said, “I’m not sure what inning it was, but the inning in which we hit our runs, we had some really big hits from Luke Gallo, Isaac Lamson, and Jace Roossien. They brought in two runs and put us ahead at that time, which was really good. It gave us a chance to win. I’d say that’s probably the biggest moment, putting us ahead in that situation.”
Brown shared that leading up to the game, the team worked on keeping everyone focused and energizedd for the entire game, not just the beginning. Brown also highlighted the team’s selfless tactics, working on approaches that will benefit the whole team rather than just an individual.
Brown said, “One of the things we worked on, not physically, was keeping that energy up, keeping everyone dialed and focused. That was one thing we worked on a lot, which definitely translated. Also our approach at the plate was something we talked about a lot, not getting too big in the moment and staying small and having selfless approaches instead of selfish approaches to benefit the team and not just yourself and your own steps.”
Rishi Rane ’25 also noted the selfless approach, specifically in terms of hitting. He shared that this was executed especially well in not just Saturday’s game, but also Tuesday’s against Austin Prep.
“One thing we’ve been working on most of this season, but mostly recently, is not being selfish at bats when we’re hitting. Basically, we hit as a team and each individual player does their job, and we did that much better later in the season, especially in the last two games. That definitely worked out in the end,” said Rane.
Brown mentioned the improvements the team has made in the latter half of its season; wins or losses, the team has stayed close with its opponents. Baseball looks to continue its strong work through the end of the season.
“We had a rocky first half of our season, but our second half of our season has been much stronger. We really showed our capabilities throughout that second half, even in our losses, they were all close and hard fought games. We had plenty more wins in the second half. The biggest thing we’re focusing on is keeping the momentum and staying with our approach that has clearly been working,” said Brown.
Boys Baseball will play in its final game of the season at home against Phillips Exeter Academy on Saturday.
