For the Falcons, this year’s 12-8 regular-season record—including a sparkling 8-2 mark in the Dual County League (DCL)—was yet another step forward for the ascending baseball program which went 10-10 a year ago.
Entering the season, some voiced concerns over how the Falcons would replace the dominance of Kevin Leal ’23, who logged 38 innings and a 2.03 Earned Run Average (ERA) as the ace of the 2023 squad.
The doubts about pitching were quickly and resoundingly answered, with the staff anchored by Henry Carter ’24, Stef Alexandrov ’26, Jasen Thomas ’26, and Oliver Henke ’26 posting a combined 1.57 ERA over 102.1 innings during the regular season.
However, the dominance of the pitching staff was offset by a leaky defense, which committed 61 errors and ceded 51 unearned runs, more than the number of earned runs (43) allowed by the pitching staff all season.
In addition to the porous defense, the Falcons’ bats never got hot, with the team batting average sitting at a measly .204 clip. There was also only one home run hit all season, a solo shot from Stef Alexandrov ’26 against Boston Latin.
As a result of the sloppy defense and unspectacular hitting, the team started the season 3-5, with agonizing losses against Brookline and Somerville.
After numerous “let’s put this one in the rearview mirror” postgame talks from the DCL Coach of the Year Buck Merrill, the team caught fire, winning nine out of ten games and pushing their record to 12-6.
Captain Jaedon Ballou ’24 told the Register Forum, “I think we went a lot further than a lot of us expected at the beginning of the year.”
But despite statistical woes with the bats and gloves, Ballou told the Register Forum, “We came together as a team and found ways to win games.” That sentiment rings true in the Falcons’ 9-1 record in games decided by three runs or fewer, a statistic that displays the dominance of the pitching staff and the toughness of the team this season in close games.
Unfortunately, having a 12-8 overall record and a 9-1 record in games decided by three runs or fewer makes having a number of blowout losses inevitable. Kossi Milner ’25 gave credit to the team for persevering through these outings, telling the Register Forum, “Everyone played hard. We had some harsh games, but nobody ever gave up.”
Even more unfortunate was the timing of some of these games, with an 11-0 clunker at the hands of Somerville at a packed St. Peter’s Field on Senior Night and a 10-0 defeat to St. Paul Diocesan in the preliminary round of the MIAA tournament. In the tournament game against St. Paul, the Falcons committed eight errors and mustered only two hits, a game which had uncanny resemblance to the team’s preliminary round defeat in Barnstable a year ago.
Despite an uneven season, the program has a young core ready to make noise during the state tournament. Che Santos ’24, told the Register Forum, “I feel like next year will probably be the best year this school has had in who knows how long.”
