The Tigers varsity baseball team stood on the hot turf of Catholic University last month with the state championship on the line.
The score was 0-0 in the bottom of the seventh and final inning. With senior shortstop Petar Dunn on third base and senior third baseman Ben Shapiro at bat, JR was 90 feet from lifting the DCSAA championship trophy, or from the game going into extra innings.
Dunn was down to his last strike and he expected St. Albans pitcher George Minjack to spin a slider on the outside corner of the plate, a pitch he had successfully thrown twice in the at bat already. This time, though, Dunn saw the ball bounce off of the catcher’s shinpads and roll away.
Seizing an opportunity to win the game, Dunn raced home, causing an uproar in the stands as friends, family, and strangers shouted cheers at the team.
“Everyone in the dugout and stands was yelling ‘go go go,’ as I was running,” Dunn recalled. “I slid onto the plate, threw my helmet, and started celebrating as my teammates ran towards me from the dugout.”
The 1-0 victory was JR’s second state title in the last three years. It was also revenge against St. Albans, which beat the Tigers in the 2025 state final, 2-0.
The Tigers went into the game with confidence. The 2026 season had been an impressive one. JR posted a record of 20-8-3 overall and went undefeated against DC teams, winning the DCIAA title for a 33rd consecutive year. The team then beat DC International, 10-3, and Maret, 14-2, to reach the state final against St. Albans.
The rematch was an intensely fierce battle, with both teams hyping up the fans and bringing excitement to the field. The game featured excellent pitching and defense from both teams, and the scene was electric, with fans on their feet stomping, screaming, and supporting their teams.
Tigers senior pitcher Teddy Benach struck out a whopping 11 St. Albans hitters while allowing just two singles and one walk. Benach said he was “playing with nothing left to lose.”
In spite of the pressure they carried on their shoulders, the Tigers said they made a point to trust themselves and their defense. “It was incredibly exciting, especially on defense, because every jam or tough situation that we seemed to get into, our defense and Teddy got us out of it,” Shapiro said.
Freshman shortstop Aaron Saad described the atmosphere as, “intense, a lot of high emotions throughout the game.”
Benach said a turning point occurred later in the game, when JR senior catcher Alex Outz threw out a St. Albans baserunner attempting to steal second base. “It really shifted the momentum,” Benach said. “It was just an amazing play and I don’t think we ever really looked back from that moment.”
“Our key was knowing that we had the talent to go there and compete,” head coach Robinson Mateo, known as Coach Robby, said about the season. The players “know they worked hard all year, and this was the time for them to prove it.”
Mateo said he was especially proud of the seniors on a team that had graduated more than a dozen players last year. In spite of any doubts about the Tigers’ prospects, Mateo left them a message to “go out and just enjoy the game.”
They did just that—and captured a championship, too. •
