Varsity Baseball

The varsity baseball team opened its season without the same explosion as the hometown Phillies, but with some of its own fireworks. The team, comprised of five returning letter winners, is in the process of building team chemistry, confidence, and cooperation. Yesterday, the team began to show those characteristics. Senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez got the game started with a single to left field in the first inning. Senior Ryan Oster then singled to advance Kenneth into scoring position. Junior Bennett Lichstein followed up with a single of his own, and the Cougars were on the board with Bennett's RBI.

After relinquishing a run in the bottom of the inning, it was now time for the Cougars to regroup in the third. Once again, junior co-captain Joseph Kumar led off the inning and promptly secured his first hit of the season into left field. After a hard hit single to right by sophomore Justus Agosto, Joseph turned the corner and slid into third to give the Cougars a first and third situation with Kenneth coming to the plate. Kenneth, on cue, hit a high fly ball to left driving in his first RBI from third base. The Cougars were now up 2-1 in the third.

The hosts tied the score in the fourth inning. In the fifth inning, Perkiomen hitters came alive. They led off the inning with a double. However, relieving pitcher, Justus, got a timely strikeout. Then a misplayed ball gave the hosts some life. In the inning, Perkiomen scored three runs before the Cougars came back to bat. After a quiet sixth inning, the Cougars found some life in the top of the seventh.  Sophomore Aidan Sheehan entered the game and got on with a walk.  Joseph followed Aidan's walk with one of his own and the stage was set for Kenneth again. He delivered again. This time a single to right field ushered Aidan across home plate. Kenneth stole second and on the ensuing play, a heads up play by Joseph gave the Cougars their fourth run. 

Defensively, the Cougars executed well; we ended the game without an error, and we successfully executed against three Perkiomen bunts. The pitching was steady. Kenneth earned a strikeout while giving up just one hit. Justus was flawless at shortstop recording all three outs in one inning. Justus pitched well, recording three strikeouts in two innings of work. The Cougars travel to Westtown on Saturday for their first league contest.

On Saturday the varsity baseball team traveled to Westtown for their opening season league game. Unfortunately for the visitors, it just wasn't our day. Sophomore Justus Agosto got the start on the mound. The Cougars batted first and had promising at-bats to start the game. Junior co-captain Joseph Kumar lined out to center field, while Justus lined out to second base. Both players hit the ball hard. Senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez then flew out to center field to end the inning. At the bottom of the inning, the hosts took a lead that they never relinquished. A three-run homer put the Cougars down 0-3. The next five of six batters for George School went down as strikeout victims. The hosts continued to compile hits and runs and the Cougars were run-ruled by the third inning with a 0-15 score. George School travels to Lawrenceville School on Monday for a non-league game.

This game was played more like a tennis match than a baseball game. The lead was volleyed back and forth with several drop shots and smashes in between. To begin the game, GS generated hits by junior co-captain Joseph Kumar, sophomore Justus Agosto, and senior Ryan Oster. However, the team could only generate one run. Fortunately for the guests, junior hurler Bennett Lichstein was on the hill and absolutely took control of the game inducing three ground balls to end the first inning without a score by the hosts. In the second stanza, the Cougars were stymied while Lawrenceville found some offense. In the second, the hosts tallied three runs to take a lead. But the Cougars weren't daunted. In the fourth inning, the team got on the board again when senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez reached base with a high fly ball to right field. After a stolen base got him into scoring position, Ryan walked to give the team two runners. Unfortunately, a double play ball took some wind out of the proverbial sail only to be inflated when sophomore Owen Kirk delivered a single to score Kenneth to cut the lead to one run. In the fifth inning, the Cougars started to put the pedal to the metal and generate some offense; after a leadoff strikeout, Owen reached base followed by a walk by freshman Jordan Harmon. Then sophomore Aiden Sheehan singled to load the bases. Junior Javier Vidal then walked to earn an RBI and drive home a run. Joseph walked. Justus walked. Kenneth was hit by a pitch and suddenly the Cougars scored four runs in the inning. However, some sloppy play cost the guests several unearned runs. In the fifth, the hosts scored five runs to take a commanding lead. They added to their lead in the sixth inning when they tallied six more runs. Although the Cougars played better baseball and everyone contributed something, there is still that break through coming as the team continues to get the rust of spring break out of their system.

As is the case each season, our first league game usually has George School traveling to Germantown Friends School. This season, the league schedule didn't disappoint the usual manner of things. The boys traveled to GFS, and senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez got the ball to start the game on the mound. In very George School fashion, the guests got off to a great start on offense, scoring a run in the first inning of this game just as we have in three of our first four games. Junior co-captain Joseph Kumar was walked and sophomore Justus Agosto singled to drive Joseph to third. Kenneth's long fly ball to center field drove in Joseph for the game's first run. At the bottom of the inning, Kenneth didn't get many close calls on balls and strikes, but he kept battling. Unfortunately, our defense had some lapses and GFS scored five runs in the inning.  n the third inning, the Cougars began at the top of the order and generated some runs to stay close. Joseph led off the inning and doubled to right center field. Justus then singled to left field and Kenneth delivered a mammoth shot to right center field to score Justus and Joseph. The defense then relinquished runs in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings on misplayed opportunities. Nonetheless, the guests battled back in the fifth to score two more runs when senior Grant Kind earned his first solid hit of the season and scored his first run of the season. Justus, who was three for four with two runs scored, came through to drive Grant to second. Kenneth was intentionally walked and senior Ryan Oster singled to drive in Grant and Justus. In the seventh inning, now down 9-5, the Cougars had their last at-bats. Kenneth led the inning with a walk and stole second base. Ryan was walked and stole second. Junior Bennett Lichstein was walked but a passed ball sent Kenneth home. The Cougars ended the game down three runs but with some positive improvements on offense. Freshman Jordan Harmon put the ball in play twice with hard hit balls. Grant ended with two hits and a run scored. The Cougars accumulated eleven hits, led by Joseph who was three for three.

MFS won the game in 9 innings.

To begin the week, the varsity baseball team hosted Friends Central School.  Sophomore Justus Agosto got the start and began strongly with two ground balls and a strike out in the first inning.  But offensively, the team struggled to get base runners and to produce runs.  Friends Central broke into the scoring column in the second inning with four consecutive hits before Justus closed the door with three consecutive strike outs.  Defensively, the Cougars did not execute basic plays and allowed Friends Central to accumulate runs in the next four innings.  The hosts only managed two hits on the day.  Junior co-captain Joseph Kumar and junior Bennett Lichstein accounted for the only George School hits on the day.  Justus recorded 6 strikeouts.

The Cougars hosted Westtown School in a rematch of their early season game.  The Cougars were determined to play better baseball and that is exactly what they did.  Although Westtown managed a run in the first inning, The Cougars tightened things up and held close.  After two disappointing at-bats in the first two innings, the Cougars generated a run in the third when freshman Jordan Harmon earned his first hit of the season and his first stolen base of the season.  An RBI triple by junior co-captain Joseph Kumar drove Jordan home and the game was now 2-1 going to the fourth inning.  In the fourth, Westtown managed another run and tacked on four more in the fifth inning.  Yet the Cougars still wouldn't go away.  In the sixth inning, Joseph hit a towering long drive to deep center field that resulted in a home run.  At the top of the seventh, the hosts gave up another run that may have put the game out of reach at 8-1.  However, the resiliency of this team came to light.  In the seventh inning, Sophomore Owen Kirk continued to swing a hot bat and reached with a single to center.  After a stolen base, Jordan got his second hit of the game and season driving Owen home for Jordan's first RBI of the season.  After an intentional walk to Joseph, junior Bennett Lichstein hit a ball to right field that dropped in and scored two runs.  The hosts were now with men on second and third with two outs.  Sophomore Justus Agosto hit a ball down the right field line that stayed up and was caught to end the game.  The Cougars played with a mindset of competitiveness and are working through this tough season game by game.

The varsity baseball team traveled to play on the Shipley turf for another league contest.  Sophomore Justus Agosto, who has had three quality starts in a row, got the ball and was stellar through six innings.  Justus recorded 5 strikeouts and only allowed four hits.  In the first inning, the Cougars went down in order.  When the hosts batted, they, led off the game with a base hit but then two strike outs and a nice play by shortstop junior co-captain Joseph Kumar ended the threat.  In the next two innings, the Cougars reached base only once while earning 5 strike outs against us.  Luckily, defense and Justus' pitching kept us in the game.  On a steal to third, senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez gunned a throw to junior Javier Vidal who applied the tag and ended the inning.  In the Justus reached with a hit and stole second, but we were unable to get him across home plate.  Again in the fourth inning, the defense kicked in and we thwarted a threat.  On a delayed steal, Kenneth threw to first baseman senior Ryan Oster who executed the play perfect when the runner at second tried to advance to third.  Ryan's strike to Javier pinned their runner in a run-down, where Joseph applied the inning-ending tag.  However, in the fifth and deciding inning, a miscue led to two runs and put the Cougars behind for the first time in the game.  Unfortunately for the guests, we were unable to generate a run in our last two at-bats and lost 3-0.

What could only be described as a total team win, the Cougars earned their first league win yesterday. Senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez was spectacular on the mound, while sophomore Justus Agosto distinguished himself defensively and offensively. But they weren't the only story lines. Senior Ryan Doyle, making his second start at third base, got the first ground ball of the game and easily tossed the first out of the game to senior Ryan Oster. However, junior co-captain Joseph Kumar tried to steal the spotlight when he hit his second home run of the season with a blast to left field; this bomb put the visitors on the board in the second inning.  After a single by stellar backstop junior Bennett Lichstein, and a stolen base, Justus came through with a single. After his first stolen base of the game, Justus settled in at second. Kenneth then singled to score Justus and give the guests a two run lead.

At this point, it was all about the defense and pitching. Sophomore second baseman Owen Kirk held down his position securing two pop fly balls and two ground balls that resulted in outs. Offensively, the Cougars put the ball in play. Bennett, and Justus each earned two hits. Justus had a shot down the right field line which he turned into a triple. Bennett also had two stolen bases.  Joseph, Kenneth and Owen all got hits. On the other side, Bennett threw out two would be thieves; Kenneth for his part recorded seven strike outs. He had no walks and no hits allowed in six and two thirds innings. However, there were two outstanding plays that will remain in the minds of George School baseball fans and players for a very long time. On a ball hit in the hole between short stop and third base, short stop Justus Agosto went to his knees, sliding on the wet grass infield and backhanded a hard hit ball. Justus, from his knees, threw a one hopper to senior first baseman Ryan Oster who scooped the ball from the grass. The runner was called safe, but the effort was easily one of the finest plays in recent memory. Even the umpires and host coach thought it was a true highlight.

The play that sealed the day and secured the win came in the bottom of the seventh inning. After Kenneth reached his pitch limit, Bennett took over and had an interesting way of finishing the game. After giving up an infield hit, the bases became loaded.  With two outs, a fly ball went sky high to right field where sophomore Aidan Sheehan had just entered the game. The Cougars were now up 2-1 with two outs and the hosts had bases loaded. Aidan came in on the ball then slowly checked his direction and readjusted as the ball began to descend. In the most dramatic way, reminiscent of Roy Hobbs, Aidan caught the ball while sliding on the wet grass. The Cougars won the game. The Cougars have played excellent baseball in their last three outings. The younger, less experienced players are starting to perform more consistently defensively.

The Cougars hosted Germantown Friends School on Wednesday and looked to avenge their early season loss.  Both pitchers were stellar holding at-bats down on both sides.  Sophomore Justus Agosto got the start for the home team.  He ended the game with 6 K's.  Neither team could generate a run until the third inning when GFS got on the board twice.  But the Cougars, as they have been doing recently, responded well with a run of their own when Justus drew a walk and senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez drew a walk.  Senior Ryan Oster thought it was a good idea and he, too, got the opportunity to trot down the first base line with a walk.  Sophomore Owen Kirk then stepped in and delivered a hit to drive in Justus.  But the Cougars, after a missed played ball landed in the outfield, gave up three runs in the top of the fifth.  Would the Cougars respond?  Absolutely.  At the bottom of the inning, the bats came alive again.  Junior co-captain Joseph Kumar started the inning with a single.  Junior Bennett Lichstein, who has been absolutely locked in at the plate, came through with a single.  Justus got walked and Kenneth scored Joseph with a single of his own.  Sophomore Owen Kirk drew a walk.  In one of the most important at bats of his young George School career, Freshman Jordan Harmon stepped in and delivered a double driving in two RBI in the form of Bennett and Kenneth.  The Cougars tied up the game in dramatic fashion.  After a quiet seventh inning, where defense was the order of the day, sophomore Aidan Sheehan corralled his only opportunity at second base and delivered a strike to end the seventh to give the hosts a chance to win the game.  In the seventh, Kenneth hit a double putting him in scoring position.  He stole third base putting him just 90 feet away from victory.  The next two batters put the ball in play but both were thrown out at first base ending the Cougars' threat.  The guests then delivered 5 runs in the 8th inning.  Unfortunately for the hosts, it was too much to overcome.  The Cougars dropped a well-played game 5-11 in 8 innings.  The Cougars will host Friends Select School on Friday.

The varsity baseball team has played good baseball in the last two weeks.  Several players are showing marked improvement simply through repetitions.  The kids are enjoying their time on the diamond.  In their most recent home game, the Cougars hosted Friends Select School and opened the game with 9 runs in the first inning.  Senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez got his final regular season home start and didn't disappoint.  Kenneth recorded 8 strike outs in four innings of work.  He allowed just two hits.  Offensively, the hosts were led with hits by junior co-captain Joseph Kumar who had his third triple of the season.  Sophomore Owen Kirk contributed with a hit, while junior backstop Bennett Lichstein continued his torrid hitting streak.  Bennett had two hits and extended his hit streak to 10 straight games.  He also contributed two RBI.  Sophomore Justus Agosto contributed three hits and two RBI.  Most impressive on this day was the defense.  On three occasions the hosts thwarted would be runners particularly at home plate.  On one play, Bennett threw to Kenneth on an attempted steal when a runner at third base tried to score.  Kenneth threw a seed to Bennett who applied the tag and secured the out.  On another play, a runner tried to go home on a delayed steal.  Bennett, now pitching, calmly tossed the ball to Kenneth, now catching, and he tagged the runner for the final out of the game.

After a long drive up the turnpike, the Cougars didn't look particularly interested in playing baseball.  However, our IO was pretty good considering the drive.  Sophomore Justus Agosto was got the pill for a start on the mound, and we knew we were sure to get a competitive outing out of him.  In the first inning, Hill struck with a walk and a double down the left field line.  However, the guests weren't intimidated by the MAPL league opponent.  With the 6-7-8 hitters coming to bat, sophomore Owen Kirk walked to lead off the second.  After a strike out, senior Ryan Doyle was hit by a pitch and senior Grant Kind worked a walk with a productive at bat.  Junior co-captain Joseph Kumar then walked to drive in a run to tie the game at one.  Then junior Bennett Lichstein extended his hit streak to 11 straight games when he singled and drove in Ryan Doyle to give the guests at 2-1 lead.  Justus then grounded into a fielder's choice but managed to drive in the Cougars' third run.  After shutting down the Hill offense, the Cougars managed a run in the fourth inning.  This time it was senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez' turn to drive in a run with a single to left center field.  Senior Ryan Oster then singled but the inning was over with the Cougars managing one run.  In the meantime, Justus was racking up strike outs.  He finished the game with 8, and he and Kenneth combined for 10 K's.  In the sixth inning, errors by Hill and some very aggressive base running by Bennett after his second hit of the day, secured the final run for the Cougars.  At the bottom of the sixth inning, Justus walked the first batter but then fielded his position to begin a double play to second.  Unfortunately, we didn't execute the back end but Justus struck out the next batter and then K'ed the final batter in the inning.  Kenneth picked up in the bottom of the seventh, throwing 20 pitches and striking out two of three batters.  Most impressively, however, was the defense.  The Cougars did not commit an error in the game and relinquished just 4 walks and 5 hits against 10 strike outs.  Also, the outfield has really come along and caught every fly ball except one diving attempt by Joseph who almost came up with an incredible play.  The Cougars will host the FSS Falcons on Wednesday for the first round of the Quaker Cup.

The Cougars hosted Friends Select School again on Wednesday for the semi-final game of the Quaker Cup.  Senior co-captain Kenneth Rodriguez was the story.  Period.  He set the tone in the first inning of play when he threw 7 pitches and recorded 2 strike outs and induced a ground out 4 to 3.  On the day, Kenneth had 14 strike outs, 1 walk, and gave up 2 hits against 25 batters.  Offensively, the hosts produced a run in the fourth inning when junior co-captain Joseph Kumar singled to start off the inning.  Sophomore Justus Agosto then doubled to drive in Joseph.  The Cougars struck again in the sixth inning when Kenneth hit a single to left and then stole second.  Sophomore Owen Kirk then singled.  After walks to the next two batters, senior Ryan Doyle was walked and Kenneth came home for our second run on Ryan's RBI.  The Cougars will play on Saturday in the Quaker Cup final.