Breck baseball opened last week with a crisp 7-0 win over Mounds Park Academy at home on May 1. It was the Mustang’s third conference win of the season.
Breck head coach Drew Joiner said Breck baseball has responded well to a tough schedule, moving in a positive direction as the midpoint of the season approaches.
“We have a challenging schedule. I love the way the guys are competing even with the weather making it hard to keep a rhythm,” Joiner said. “I like the direction we’re going. We’re ascending. We had a tough loss last Saturday and we just wanted to build from there.”
Joiner added that the team responded well to their 4-3 loss to rivals Blake last week.
“We focused a lot on hitting these last few practices,” he said. “We felt we hadn’t been hitting the ball well. We had 13 strikeouts last Saturday against Blake. Better today, Max (Aronson) starting the day off with a double was great.”
Breck set a dominant tone fielding from the top of the first, led by Colin Mitchell at the mound. Mitchell coordinated well with Ray Della Lana at first base, Thomas Belman at shortstop, and Ben Amato at second, with the four combining for three outs.
One of the key figures in Breck’s eventual win, Mitchell later noted that it was a strong day for the entire team in the field, helping him build confidence ahead of upcoming challenges like a rematch with Blake on May 7.
“I went in [today] knowing I put anything I wanted by the guys,” Mitchell explained. “It was more of a 90 percent day for me, but in the end I hit by PR. I’m happy with what the guys did behind me. They’re really solid behind me in the field and I’m feeling pretty confident looking ahead to the next few games.”
Breck players showed their scoring ability too. Aronson hit a double to start things off, before Nate Miller hit an RBI to get Aronson home to give Breck an early 1-0 lead.
Mitchell was at it again at the top of the second, throwing three strikeouts to make it clear MPA would have to work exceptionally hard to find a run. Breck’s Della Lana then hit an RBI single to bring Liam Cavanaugh home in the bottom of the second. Isaac Nguyen and Aronson also got on the bases but MPA cut the scoring short at 2-0.
The third and fourth innings were scoreless for both teams, with Mitchell getting four more strikeouts between the two innings while Garrett Trench made a good catch at right field and third baseman Nguyen threw to first for a tag.
Breck managed to load the bases with Liam Devlin, Nguyen, and Miller in the bottom of the fourth, but were held at bay.
Breck, however, could not be stopped for long. The pressure brought out big plays from the Mustangs defensively to shut out MPA in the top of the fifth despite the visitors loading the bases. The Mustangs then scored three more runs after loading the bases with Ethan Paster, Cavanaugh, and Amato. Lana hit his second RBI single of the day to get Paster home before Aronson hit a two-RBI double to get Cavanaugh and Amato home.
Breck earned two more runs with Mitchell and Belman walking home after Cavanaugh and Alex Averbook earned walks into loaded bases.
Other results
Breck continued a strong week with a 10-2 Senior Night win over St. Paul Academy on May 3. Miller starred with three RBI and a run of his own, while Mitchell picked up two runs. Trench, Aronson, Zach Huotari, Belman, and Cavanaugh all earned one run each, with Aronson hitting two RBI.
The results improved Breck’s Independent Metro Athletic Conference record to 4-1. They are 5-3 overall.
Breck will play five games the following week, traveling to Minnehaha Academy, Blake, St. Paul Academy, Minneapolis South, and Southwest Christian on May 6, 7, 8, 19 and 11 respectively.
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