By Jake Loomis, Class of ’24 — Senior Sports Writer
The Sharon Eagles’ start to their baseball season has been eventful, to say the least.
The many ups and downs most teams experience have posed some challenges; however, the Eagles are not just any ordinary team: they seek to revitalize its baseball program and garner wins in arguably the toughest league in the state.
Sharon started the season with a great test against the reigning D1 state champions, the Taunton Tigers. The boys went into this game with a chip on their shoulders and held a 3-run lead at one point. In the end, they lost the battle to the more experienced and well-proven Tigers team, 7-3.
In game two, the Eagles faced Carver in the highly-anticipated opener at Peckham Park. The stands were packed, standing room only, to watch this pitchers’ duel as Cole Aurendale threw a good game for the Eagles against Carver’s Trevor Mannix. In the middle of the 7th, the score was 1-0, Carver. The Eagles kept battling, though, as doubles by Liam Conway and Matt Cronin ignited a rally and set up a walk-off single by teammate Jake Loomis at the Eagles’ first home game in 5 years.
The Eagles were coming in hot to their next contest against Milford; however, the bats fizzled, and the pitching was streaky. The high velocity of the Milford pitcher also caused the Eagles to falter: hitting simply did not adjust in time. Thus, the Eagles were hitless and lost 13-0.
The mood in the dugout was low following the loss to Milford on Monday. However, the Eagles knew they had a winnable game Wednesday versus the Foxboro Warriors. The Eagles got a good start from Luke Mexiel in which he let up two earned runs through six innings with strong defense behind him. The bats were cold for the most part again other than the first hits of the season by Matt Berkley and Arundale. Sharon did start to threaten in the sixth, but costly baserunning would spell the end to their rally and allow Foxboro to keep their momentum as they escaped Sharon with a 3-0 victory.
The Eagles would have another test as they as they faced the runner-up in the D1 title game: the Franklin Panthers. The Eagles came into the game great and looked good from the jump. Franklin, however, finally broke through in the third and made the score 1-0. They would tack on two more runs on their way to a 3-0 victory over Sharon. The Eagles simply could not get that bat against the Panthers, which has been a theme so far this year.
The good news for the Eagles, though, is the hard part of the schedule is mostly behind them, much improved from last year, and it shows that the squad’s run differential is much lower than last year. The Eagles just need to spark the offense up and keep playing good defense and they will look to bounce back and garner some wins in the coming weeks. The team will be a threat to beat top-time teams and division rivals.
