Athletics

Cardigan Varsity Baseball earned a 5-3 win against Plymouth in their season opener. It was the first time on a baseball field this spring for the Cougars and our pitching and defense were sharp throughout. The Cardigan pitchers were confined to 25 pitches for their outings and each were very efficient.

Elliott Watson took the mound to start for the green and white and was very efficient through his 2 innings of work. He let up no hits, walked one, and struck out five batters. Andy Do threw the 3rd inning, striking out two batters and letting in one unearned run. Jaxon Fraser pitched the 4th, only allowing one run and was able to work out of a jam by striking out two batters in a row with the bases loaded. Sosuke Imaizumi earned the win on the day, pitching innings 5 and 6, allowing one run on two hits and one walk while striking out one. Quinn Suarez came on for the 7th with a two run lead and was able to have a clean 1-2-3 inning to secure the win for Cardigan.

The offense was bolstered by Magnum Hudkins, who went 2-4 with three RBI’s, including a big ground-rule double that rolled out to the Cardigan Commons. Jaxon Fraser, Blumes Tracy, and Elliott Watson each contributed with hits of their own as well.

The squad moved into Turner Arena to escape the rain and won the late-afternoon match against Proctor’s JV. The story was the singles matches. Jason Zhao '24, Tony Li '24, and Wes Berger '25 all won outstanding and gritty matches. Zhao's match was tied at 6-6 before he pulled away. Berger came from behind to win and Li finished the contest with his showcase match in front of all the players from both teams.

The Cougars edged out a Lakes Region League opponent in another nail-biter. The Rams of Tilton School fielded a group of athletic, feisty players. At number one singles, Tanglertsumphun was dominated by a consistently strong player, losing (1-6, 2-6). Calabro at number two singles was equal in demonstrating his athleticism in fending off his opponent (6-3,6-4). Park at number three was more consistent in his win, showing complete dominance in the second set (6-4, 6-0). Smith at number four, after trailing 2-4 in a match tie-breaker, came back strongly for the win (6-2, 4-6, TB 7-5). Gerbut at number 5 and Liu at number 6 could not get on track in their matches, making far too many unforced errors, losing (3-6, 1-6) and (3-6, 0-6), respectively. With Cougars and the Rams tied at 3 matches apiece after the singles event, the entire competition hinged on the doubles, each team needing two wins to notch a victory. The tandem of Tanglertsumphun and Calabro, at doubles number one, fought hard but lost (5-8). Gerbut and Smith at number three doubles won handily beating their opponents (6-2). This set the stage for yet another thriller from the Cougar’s number two tandem of Burnett and Park against their counterparts. The pressure induced many unforced errors from both sides. In the end, Park and Burnett prevailed with a different strategy, both partners playing back near the baseline and relying on clutch serves.