After reclaiming the DCSAA title at the end of last year’s season and dominating their conference for 31 years in a row, the baseball team returned this spring ready for more. With no hesitation, they looked toward the next challenge head-on: a schedule jam packed with regional powerhouse opponents.
“We’re thankful that we are able to face the competition that we have and our team’s performance has reflected it,” said junior pitcher Nelson Hayes. “Our hitting has picked up where we left off from last year and our pitching staff has done a great job. We definitely are looking to repeat from 2024 and show that we are one of the best teams in the DMV.”
The program built a schedule around 16 private school games, three doubleheader weekends, and 17 road games. Through April 21, the Tigers sit 19-4 overall with only losses to St. John’s, St. Mary’s Ryken, DeMatha and James Madison. However, testing wins were secured over St. Albans, Georgetown Prep, The Gilman School, Landon, three times against Southern Maryland Christian Academy, and The Heights School.
“The team handled themselves very well. March was a very hard month for us, but the boys went at the challenge everyday and gave it their all each game,” said head coach Robinson Mateo. “We played well in most of the games. We had a few that I think that we could have won but overall it’s definitely been a good season for us.”
Although it’s cliché, this spring has been a full team effort. While there is a competition gap between JR and DCIAA teams, against private school competition the team has hit for an average of .289 and batted in 80 total runs.
In those games, the pitching staff has kept opposing teams to two runs per game and have gotten base hits only 20 percent of the time. For season totals, the Tigers have four home runs and executed 145 strikeouts metrics better than both numbers at this point last year.
The team held themselves and their opponents to this standard while having two senior leaders, Jackson Loomis and Etan Rosario, who were key contributors toward the state title run, limited the first month due to injury clearance. Now, the program feels the puzzle is complete to shift their focus toward making school history and winning back-to-back state titles, something the baseball program has never done.
“The approach as a team has been to trust in the person behind you and try to get on base for them. We practice a lot on hitting the ball to the opposite field which allows us to use all of the field rather than only using the pull side,” said senior second baseman Evan Rosario. “It’s tough having two great players limited to start the year, but I think Coach Robbie has done a great job in constructing a lineup and game plan that allows us to win.”
To conclude the regular season are two conference games headlined by rival School Without Walls, then from there the postseason hunt of 32 straight DCIAA championships and making school history of back-to-back state titles begins in May.
“Even though it’s a really tough schedule, there’s no better way to get us prepared to defend our titles,” said senior infielder Freeman Hunt. “It’s a reminder of the work we need to put into staying on the right path, if we want to have another chance at another title.” •
