4/24 – Andover: 0, Winchendon: 8
4/25 – Andover: 1, Stony Brook: 6
4/25 – Andover: 1, Stony Brook: 2
4/27 – Andover: 12, Brooks: 8
Baseball (7–8) played four grueling games in four days, falling to Winchendon on Friday, losing twice against Stony Brook on Saturday, and claiming a win against Brooks on Monday.
Against Winchendon, Baseball delivered seven hits in 28 at bats, with no walks and nothing more than a single. The team struggled to find offense in the 0–8 loss. On the defensive end, the mound struggled to find strikeouts, with only three compared to Winchendon’s eight. Andover gave up seven walks and 11 hits to ultimately allow eight runs. Owen Callahan ’26 attributed the loss to an unfocused mindset entering the game, noting that the team never really settled into the right headspace.
“Our biggest problem was [that] we had beaten Winchendon in a doubleheader earlier in the season, and we underestimated them. We underestimated their talent and how they wanted to get back at us and get revenge for that game. So our mindset going into that game was a little bit poor. We weren’t completely ready to play, and a little bit of it was also that it was a long bus ride to get there. That’s no excuse, but all those things mixed together combined for a pretty rough loss that day, and not our true form as a team” said Callahan.
The following day, Andover played a Saturday doubleheader against Stony Brook, a highly anticipated test as Baseball looked to prove itself ahead of the playoffs. In the first game, Andover suffered a 1–6 loss. Finding its rhythm in the second game, the team put together a stronger performance but fell 1–2. Garrett Falahee ’27 led the team across the two games with two doubles and both of Andover’s runs.
Andover also posted a perfect fielding performance in the second game. Kaden McNeice ’28 commented on the team’s shift in mindset between games, and their overall performance in the second.
“Game one obviously didn’t go our way. It was a tough [1–6] loss, but that’s the beauty of being able to play a doubleheader. No matter how the first game goes, you know you have a second one coming. So it was great for us, coming off a loss, to be able to have an opportunity to bounce back, and that’s a very talented team in Stony Brook, probably the best team we’re going to play all year. Everyone really just needed to stay in the right headspace, and if we executed and made plays in the field, we knew that we were going to be able to stay in the game. We made the plays in the field, we executed a very fundamentally sound game, but we just weren’t able to string together enough hits to keep us in a position where we could win the game,” said McNeice.
Coming off a hard three-game stretch, Baseball was looking to bounce back against Brooks on Monday. Matt Shampine PG’26 reflected on the team’s approach to stay with the fundamentals, and play a loose and smart game.
“We tend to press a lot and try to do too much with our bats. And in the field, [we] try to make too big of a play when in reality, you just put together little plays, and it does the same job as one big play. As our coach says, you don’t need to hit a five-run home run. Just get on base. And we did that well on Monday. Just go out there, have fun, [and] don’t be too tight,” said Shampine.
Andover concluded the week with a 12–8 win against Brooks. Starring young players, Thomas Perri ’29 and Alex Iihara ’28 had their first ever pitching starts, with Michael Doherty ’27 coming in to end the game. Callahan described the team’s performance.
“Monday was a great game against Brooks. I’d like to give two shoutouts. We had two younger guys throw for us. We had a freshman, Thomas Perry, and a sophomore, Alex Iihara. They did awesome. That was great for them to get out there on the mound. Also, our offense played great that game. A couple guys had some really nice hits, like Garrett Falahee, he had a nice hit, and then also Matt Ulicny [PG’26] as well. We were down at one point, but we bounced back pretty soon after, and we didn’t let off the gas at all, and we ended up walking away with a pretty good win,” said Callahan.
Baseball will face Groton on Friday, Phillips Exeter Academy (Exeter) on Saturday, and Cushing on Wednesday.
