After winning the DCSAA Championship in 2024, the Jackson-Reed baseball team fought hard but ultimately lost 2-0 to St. Albans in the 2025 Championships, after a dedicated and successful season.
The story of this Tigers season began mid September of 2024. Though it occurred long before the season started, many of the Tiger players formally announced their commitment to play baseball at the college level. The series of commitments built anticipation of the baseball season despite it being several months off.
By the time of the team’s yearly service trip to the Dominican Republic, the team was rearing to get the season underway with the goal of a DCSAA back-to-back victory. They would be faced with a number of games scheduled against big names, but with the team they had assembled and built over the previous years, they were confident they could take on anyone, starting off with a brilliant 5-2 win over St. Albans as a prelude to their state championship matchup.
This win was followed by two losses on the bounce to WCAC competition, losses to St. Mary’s Ryken and St. John’s (who is currently ranked 5th in the nation). “Even though we lost that game, it wasn’t a game that we played super horribly,” stated coach Robinson Mateo. “We competed, even though the score didn’t look like we did, but it was pretty much a tight and clean game.”
The Tigers would get back to winning ways with a key win at Georgetown Prep, 8-5, followed by a 6-4 victory over the Gilman School from Baltimore, in the first game at Fort Reno.
As March turned to April, the Tigers hosted the Landon Bears as a homecoming for former coach Henry Martinez. In a game that saw 3 lead changes, the Tigers clawed back a deficit to force extra innings, winning the game on a walk off RBI by 1st baseman Rowan Hopson that allowed Jackson Loomis to dive into the plate for a victory in back to back years over Martinez’s Landon since his takeover.
“Even though we were down going into the 7th inning, I never really felt like we were going to lose that game,” remarked Zander Leckszas, who was the Tigers’ starting pitcher that day. “I felt like the energy and confidence we had throughout that whole game sort of set the tone for us to win, and we never really got down ourselves and felt like we were losing that game even though we were down one.”
The Tigers finished the regular season with a record of 25-4, capping off the year with a 11-0 domination of Maret, who they had beaten for the state title the previous year. As usual, they strolled through the DCIAA playoffs, winning the city championship 12-2 over Walls and extending their DCIAA championship win streak to 32 years in a row.
The Tigers kicked off the DCSAA tournament with a 12-3 win over DCI. They won their second game against Sidwell 6-4, after resisting a late comeback from Sidwell and a rain delay. They rolled into the DCSAA Championship with lots of confidence, ready to take on the team they bested in their first game, St. Albans.
It was obvious from the beginning that the championship would be a low-scoring, defensive matchup, considering both starting pitchers, JR’s Nelson Hayes and St. Albans’ Myles Upchurch, were Division 1 commits. Upchurch struggled in the season opener but was looking to close out his high school career in style. Hayes and Upchurch pitched nearly flawless games, and the Tigers showed out in the field, with players like Hopson and 2nd baseman Evan Rosario making excellent plays to deny opportunities for St. Albans.
In the top of the 6th inning, Upchurch smashed the ball over the centerfield wall for a two-run homerun, putting the Bulldogs up 2-0. In the 7th inning, the score still 2-0, down to their final chance, the Tigers would cycle back to the top of the batting order with Freeman Hunt. “When we got to the last inning, you know, it’s your last at bat,” remarked Hunt. “I went up there with a smile and it paid off, so I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Hunt would give the Tigers hope by hitting a single, and Loomis advanced him to third base with a single for himself. With Rosario at the plate and Loomis successfully stealing second, it seemed that the Tigers may have had a shot at replicating last year’s comeback. However, it was not meant to be, as Upchurch proceeded to strike Rosario out, winning the championship for St. Albans. “I mean, that was a really tough game, two great pitchers, no errors all game, but they got the hit they needed, and we couldn’t respond,” reflected Hopson. “But, you know, that’s the way we went out. We went out fighting, and that’s what we always do.” •