Masters Runs Wild in Win Over Birch Wathen Lenox

“We are both huge proponents of being able to move runners and/or take the extra base whenever possible,” Jaggernauth said. “Therefore, we spend a lot of time practicing leads and getting jumps in order to try to get every bit of an added advantage we can during games.”

And that advantage was quite apparent in the Panthers' game against visiting Birch Wathen Lenox on April 23 at Clarke Field. 

Masters racked up an eye-popping nine stolen bases en route to a convincing 14-3 victory. Ryan Mah ’27, Daniel Hwang ’26 and Hunter Smith ’29 led the base-running barrage with two stolen bases apiece, while Jack Sicard ’28, Zach Gotthelf ’26 and Maddie Barnes ’26 added one each. 

David Firsenbaum, an eighth grade pitcher, took the win on the mound, recording six strikeouts over four innings. 
 
“I can’t say enough positive things about David,” Jaggernauth said. “He is mature beyond his years as an eighth grader and has been an absolute pleasure to work with. He is like a sponge and is really driven and focused on whatever he can do to improve his game. In this game in particular, he lived in the strike zone. We talk often about how we have to force teams to beat us rather than beat ourselves — and he did exactly that.”

Masters trailed 1-0 after the first inning but scored two runs apiece in the second and third innings to grab a 4-1 advantage. The Panthers then exploded for eight runs in the decisive fourth inning, blowing the game wide open. 

Hwang paced the offense with a pair of hits and three runs scored. Catcher Zach Ryan ’27 recorded three RBI and Jake Raab ’26 added two RBI. Nine different Masters players scored at least one run.  

“Our plan as an offense is always to be aggressive and take a line drive approach at the plate,” Jaggernauth said. “Daniel Hwang, who has been with us for three years now, exemplified this. When he is going good, he hits great line drives up and down the gaps in the outfield — and that was certainly what he was doing that day.”

Masters is slated to square off against Harvey on Thursday, May 8, at Clarke Field at 4:15 p.m. It's yet another chance for the team to keep progressing. 

“We are very excited about the young core we have to build around for the future,” Jaggernauth said. “There are no seniors on our team but we do have some solid juniors who will be coming back. We have an excellent group of two eighth graders and a sophomore catcher who have played enormous roles for us this year. And they will only continue to get better. Not only are these players promising, but they are hard-working individuals of high character. That makes it exciting to think about building around them for the long term.”