Wyvern baseball soars to new heights against strong opponents with 9-10 record

Sports

Boys varsity baseball battled through a tough season, ending with a solid 9-10 record.

The team also had to reschedule their senior day game against South Kent, since it was cancelled because of the rain.

On Monday, May 14, the team squared away against a strong Choate Rosemary Hall for the second time this season. In their previous matchup, at Choate, the boys pulled off a win, maybe one of the most meaningful of the season. Assistant Coach Ryan Radmanovich said that was the first time they had beat Choate in around 15 years.

In their first matchup, the boys played well on both sides of the field. Some of their more notable hits were from junior second baseman Connor Patenaude, senior catcher, outfielder Co-captain Jimmy DiVirgilio, and senior catcher, outfielder Co-captain Mark Place.

The pitching, although the final score was 7-6, was phenomenal. Senior pitcher and outfielder Co-captain Ben Tauber got the starting nod and pitched very well, only giving up a few hits here and there.

Sophomore pitcher and second baseman Nicholas Cannata came in close and was caught in a sticky situation with the bases loaded at one point late in the game. Tauber battled through it and closed out the inning not letting a run cross the plate. To the Wyverns’ dismay, it was a tale of two completely different games on Monday. Both teams could not hit their opposing pitchers.

Junior pitcher Evan Moore got the start and pitched a beautiful game up until around the third inning. Walked and hit batters loaded the bases, and another walk brought the game -winning run across the plate.

The Wyverns bats were cold against Choate’s pitching. Sophomore shortstop Jack Marshall had two of the team’s three hits early on in the game.

Senior outfielder Noah Gibson gave the team their third hit in the bottom of the seventh inning, pinch hitting for junior first baseman Jack Johnson.“It’s just tough on us mentally, because we were hitting so well very early on in the season, but we have kind of been on a slow decline as the season has come to a close,” he said.

However, Patenaude said he isn’t worried about it A final score of 1-0, is hard on everybody. Moore, even though the Wyverns lost, pitched a tremendous game, only giving up one run.

“That’s when it’s hard for me as a pitcher. To only give up one run and lose 1-0 kind of stings, but I’m sure we’ll be back to hitting the ball hard in our last two or three games,” Moore said.

Their final two games were against a competitive Westminster team, and a strong Loomis Chaffee team. The boys had already played each of these teams once, at both of their respective home fields, but for the second match up, the teams competed on KO’s Mandell Baseball Field.

In their previous matchup against Loomis, the team fought tremendously hard until the very last inning. Sadly, Loomis hit a walk-off single to win the game.

In their previous matchup against Westminster, the boys played a good game; unfortunately Westminster played just a little better, edging past the Wyverns 2-3. In the rematch against Westminster, the Wyverns pulled out a 6-1 win. This win was especially rewarding since this was their Senior Day, celebrating the eight seniors on the team.

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