On Tuesday afternoon, the baseball team pounded Southampton, 17-7, in a lopsided victory on Faculty Appreciate Day at Jeff Adams Field. Prior to the game, each player gave a letter of appreciation to a faculty member that has been impactful in their life. The player and teacher were introduced together on-field before Head of School Josh Crane threw a ceremonial first pitch strike to kick off the afternoon.

Sebastian Perez took the mound for the Brook and had runners at the corners with one out, but bounced back. The Mariners attempted a double steal, hoping to bait the Bears into throwing to second base while the runner at third scampered home, but it was the Bears who baited Southampton as Devon McMorris threw the ball directly to Perez instead of second to easily gun down the runner at home. A strikeout ended the Mariner threat. In the bottom of the 1st, Jayden Stroman cracked a stand-up triple before an Aaron Babaev sacrifice fly gave the Brook a 1-0 lead.

Jojo Franco came on to pitch the 2nd and needed just 11 pitches to strike out the side. The Bears hung four runs in the 2nd thanks to a Jadden Rodriguez infield single, an Alex Baaden double over the left fielder, an interference call at third, and a wild pitch as the Brook took a 5-0 lead. Franco was again dominant in the 3rd, giving up only an infield single while bookending the frame with a pair of three-pitch Ks. In the bottom half, Logan Charboneau cracked a two-run home run over the left field fence, Rodriguez swatted an RBI single to left, and Baaden pushed home another run on a fielder’s choice as the Bear advantage swelled to 9-0.

Rodriguez sat the Mariners down in order in the 4th and the offense put up seven more runs behind a double from Charboneau, a single from Franco, a walk from Jacob Lippe, and a grand slam from Stephen Cisz, the first home run of his career. The Mariners got seven runs back in a lengthy 5th as some seldom-used pitchers got some experience. A Baaden sac fly in the 5th reactivated the 10-run mercy rule at 17-7, and Baaden worked around a two-out walk in the 6th to nail down the win.

The Bears are back in action this afternoon in a rematch at Southampton.

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