
Adwoa Sankah ‘26
Apr 11, 2024
Last Friday and Saturday, the Blue Storm’s baseball team took part in Mercersburg Academy’s Reisner-Gift Invitational Tournament in which four teams competed in a round-robin style event. This annual event honors long-time Mercersburg coaches Karl Reisner and Brent Gift. The team dropped its first and second; they were leading when the final game was cancelled due to inclement weather.
In anticipation of the historic tournament, the team trained very hard. "To prepare for the tournament, the team did a lot of infield [and] outfield drills and some bunt coverage. With that, we have also done a lot of batting practice," said Tyson Brown ’26. Assistant coach Matt Jacobs added, “The team is preparing for [the game against] Blair by just competing in all the drills in practice, as well as trying to get each other better.”
Entering the tournament, the team was filled with excitement. Thomas Marchesi ’24 stated, “We started slow but got back into the groove. We are really looking forward to this weekend’s double-header against Blair and the upcoming games we have.”
Additionally, the team brought a strong team spirit. Samuel Menendez ‘24 said, “We have a good connection with each other, especially as we come [back] from Florida. I would say that as the season goes on, we will build a better chemistry and hopefully play better together.”
Despite a third-place finish, Mercersburg saw many of its own athletes give outstanding performances. Noteworthy highlights include Marchesi's impressive pitching and Hayden Shirk's ’24 towering home run.
Regardless of the challenges faced so far this season, the team has a shared dedication towards improvement. “The biggest thing we can improve on is [our] approaches to [the] plate. Coach [Josh] Edgin [’06] has been stressing that we need to improve our approaches to plate, and that will bring us more wins.”
Looking ahead, the team expressed their collective aspiration to grow closer as a group and improve their performance for the remainder of the season and future seasons. “I think we’re starting to come around. We’re playing good defense, and pitches have been great. We just need more offense in the game,” mentioned Thomas Davenport ‘24.
Edgin also commended the baseball team's diverse talent, "We have a great group of guys ranging from freshmen [and all] the way up to collegiate-level players. We are just beginning to mesh as a team." Despite the results of the tournament, Edgin believes that the main goal of the season is to strive for continual improvement.
As the Blue Storm’s baseball team looks ahead to next week, where they will play in a double header against Blair Academy, their strong determination and unity will be key in facing a strong opponent.