Hoping to break a two-game losing streak and in need of a district win to gain confidence heading into postseason play, the varsity baseball team faced the TC Williams Titans on April 16. The Atoms wasted no time in righting their ship, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead and going on to win 7-4.
“The win turns the season for us,” said head coach Ron Abrigo. “We threw a lot of strikes and the defense made plays for us. It was a good win.”
In the first inning, senior Robert Potts led off the game with a base hit. After stealing second, senior Nathan Clayton advanced him to third on a groundball. Junior Evan Smith then drove him in with a hard groundball that was misplayed by the TC fielder to make the score 1-0.
The Atoms picked up right where they left off in the second inning, with both Clayton and junior Jake Barnes registering RBI singles. Potts highlighted the scoring with his 400-foot drive to dead center field that would have been a homerun in most other ballparks, but Potts had to settle for a two-RBI double. By the end of the second inning, the Atoms were up 5-0 and the pitchers took over.
“They hit the ball hard off of me but we never let them get completely back into the game,” said senior Nathan Reel who was the winning pitcher for the Atoms, having tossed a solid three innings.
After giving up a two-run homerun, he was replaced by senior Kevin Fields who finished out the game for the Atoms.
“The combination of my fastball, changeup and slider and working the outside of the plate [was the key holding down the Titans lineup],” said Fields. “I was just throwing strikes and letting my defense help me out.”
“Reel and Fields combined to only walk two batters the whole game so that was key for us,” said Abrigo.
Potts and Clayton led the team with two RBIs apiece, while Barnes, Smith and sophomore Tyler Schwartz each added one RBI in the game.
With the win, the Atoms improved to 3-3 on the year and 2-3 within the Patriot District. They face the first-place West Springfield Spartans on April 20 in their next game. The team knows that they will have to continue to improve if they want to compete with the best.
“The pitching has to continue to get better and we have to hit in big moments when it counts because we’re still leaving runners in scoring position,” said Abrigo.
The starting pitcher for the Atoms will be senior Ryan Schubert, who did not allow a run in five innings in his last start against Woodson. Schubert has been a workhorse for the Atoms all year, as the team looks to knock off the Spartans.
