By Jake Loomis, Class of ’24 — Senior Sports Writer
Photo Credit Mike Berkley.
The Sharon Eagles baseball team capped off their 20-game season with a memorable game versus Stoughton on Monday, May 20. The game signified Senior Day for Sharon’s graduating players: Jake Loomis, Jared Marcus, Liam Conway, and Luke Meixel.
On the bump for the Eagles in this one was Meixel, who started strong, holding Stoughton’s potent offense in check. He induced a fly ball to Loomis to escape a bases-loaded jam in the first. The Eagles’ offense also got started early with multiple hits; however, they could not strike until the bottom of the fourth when junior Casey Stengal drove in classmate Cole Arundale to get on the board first. The score did not stay in the Eagles’ favor for long as Stoughton rallied in the 5th to get three runs across and scare the Eagles.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Eagles responded dramatically as Liam Conway scored on a double from Soham Kulkarni, cutting the deficit to one. Sharon loaded the bases with one out, and Loomis walked to get on base and to tie the game at three. Stengal came through again with another RBI single as he pushed the Eagle lead to one. Stoughton would get a ground ball out on the next play but not before a much-needed insurance run crossed home plate. Stoughton got two runners on in the 7th; however, they could not get a big hit to drive them in as Sophomore Matt Cronin slammed the door and earned the save in this one. Luke Meixel struck out eight in the victory while only surrendering three runs to the Black Knight offense.
The Eagles will finish the season going 6-14 which doubled the win total from 2023. The program had a true reset this year under Larry Yaffe and will look to build upon that as they follow into next year. The Eagles will lose some key pieces; however, they will retain most of their roster as they move into the gauntlet that Kelly-Rex baseball entails. The team will need a good off-season and continue to get stronger as they look to make some noise in a loaded Hockomock League next year.