While baseball, football, and lacrosse all lost in the second round of the playoffs, tennis went to capture another state title.
The baseball team played their first playoff game on May 11 at home against the Gaithersburg Trojans. With senior Ryan Mariani at the pitcher’s mound for the first six innings, and junior Dev Zoks pitching for the rest of the game, the Patriots only let the Trojans by two runs.
The final score was 4-2, and the team moved on to the next round of playoffs. On May 13 at Clarksburg the Patriots opposed the Coyotes. Senior Harrison Cance and junior Dev Zoks shared the role of pitcher. It was a close game, but the Patriots lost 2-1. “Clarksburg was a tough game, but we all played really well,” sophomore shortstop Nathan Bowman said.
Playoffs started out well for the softball team with a game against the Gaithersburg Trojans. The Patriots shut out the Trojans and the game ended 10-0. The second round was not as successful. The girls faced the Northwest Jaguars and lost 15-3.
With a regular season record of 8-4, the boys’ lacrosse team was looking forward to playoffs. For their first game, the boys faced off against the Quince Orchard Cougars at home on May 10. When the clock ran out, the score was tied, and the game went into overtime. Whichever team scored first in overtime would advance to the next round of playoffs. The Patriots worked together and scored, ending the game with a final score of 8-7.
Three days later on May 13 at Richard Montgomery, the Patriots faced off against the Rockets. The teams were neck and neck for the entire game and they went into overtime. Unfortunately the Rockets pulled ahead and scored. The final score was 6-5. “The season ended sooner than we hoped it would, but we had a really fun season.” sophomore midfielder Chris Rinaldi said.
On May 10, girls’ lacrosse had their first playoff game against the Gaithersburg Trojans. Both teams came out ready to fight, and although it was a close game, the Patriots came out on top. The final score was 9-8. On May 13, the team travelled to Richard Montgomery to play the Rockets. The girls were confident they would win, but the Rockets played hard and won 19-9. “Most of us thought we would beat RM since we beat them during the regular season,” Linn said.
The tennis team went undefeated during the regular season. The Patriots beat the Churchill Bulldogs and the Whitman Vikings to win their division in playoffs. The team advanced to counties. “We did really well in counties. Both girls and guys won,” sophomore Ellie Esterowitz said.
The Patriots made it to states, and in mixed doubles, Ellie Esterowitz and Jakob Esterowitz won. “Overall we did really great this year,” sophomore Owen Matus said.
