News Articles & Feature Stories

This past weekend was one full of firsts for the Hoosac athletic program. The Boys Varsity Baseball team played in their first championship final in the modern era, competing in the Hudson Valley Athletic League.  

 

After handling the semi-final game against Oakwood Friends school with ease, a rematch of a regular season split would set the stage for the Championship. New York Military Academy having already beaten Hoosac once before had also lost a game to the Owls in the regular season. Thus, the stage was set for the proverbal "rubber match."  Who would break the series tie and at the same time walk away with the overall league championship?

 

Fortunately for Hoosac, the game would be played at home and fans turned out in force to support the boys. Coach Ryan was cautiously optimistic but had a healthy concern for the NYMA pitcher who had stimied the Hoosac bats the last time the two teams met. The opposing coach was certain it would be a great game as he started the same pitcher that had held the Hoosac boys to limited baserunners in the past. His confidence would prove to be ill-timed.  

 

 

Once the game got started the boys had to make sure they got to their first "ups" with no score, and starting pitcher for Hoosac, Noah Jimbo '24 did just that. He struck out all three of NYMA's batters and then Hoosac got the chance they had been waiting for. The boys jumped all over the pitcher, who was throwing perfect strikes over and over again. In the first inning, the boys batted around, one through nine, scorings five runs in their first at-bat.

 

In the second, it was more of the same with three up, three down for NYMA, and four more runs for Hoosac. In the third, it was no runs again for NYMA and five more for Hoosac. At the end of the game, the final score was 14 to 2, a completely dominating performance both defensively and at the plate. A great time was had by all and no better way to end the season. The boys worked hard and earned their first championship in baseball in recent history.

 

 

The boys and girls tennis teams also made history, the girls qualifying for the Class A NEPSAC team championship and the boys for the Class B NEPSAC championship. Just being selected is a huge win for the teams. There are four classes and being in the top two is a milestone for Hoosac. The boys and girls tried their hardest, but at the end of the weekend they came up just short of the overall championship. The girls lost in the quarter-final match against Groton and the boys lost in the semi-final to Belmont Hill. Nonetheless, they earned the respect and admiration of every other team in the tournament. Suffice it to say, they will surely get another opportunity next year. We are very proud of our boys and girls who, throughout all competitions, are always humble in victory and gracious in defeat.