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Baseball Clinch FAA League Championship

Daniel Clarke
The St. Luke’s Baseball Team clinched its first FAA Championship since 2006 on Saturday, May 22, with a dominant 10-3 win over Hamden Hall School.

The Storm came out swinging, knowing that they needed to beat the Hornets to secure the title. Two home runs in the top of the second inning by Zion Profit ‘22 and Everett Andersen ‘22 gave St. Luke’s a commanding 6-0 lead that they would not let slip. 

The victory capped off a tremendous season and one that saw a remarkable turnaround in the team’s fortunes. The program has struggled for a number of years to make its mark on the FAA, but it was clear from the very first game of the spring season that this team was different. The Storm opened up with a convincing 5-0 road win at Greens Farms Academy, on the back of a dominant pitching display from Ryan Higgins ‘21. 

A major contributing factor to the turnaround was the strong leadership from senior captains Lewis Cropper, Evan Panageas, and Ryan Higgins. Cropper said the trio wanted to set a high standard and believes the players responded well: “We made it clear to everyone right from the start that our goal was to win a league championship. We knew that we had a lot of talent on the team, and we really tried to hold each player accountable. The team was extremely receptive. The one time we showed complacency and lost to Hopkins, they responded very positively. We bounced back against Hamden and really stepped it up to achieve our goal.”

The Storm was also under the guidance of a new head coach Sam Colon, and Cropper attributes the team’s accomplishments to Colon and his staff: “The coaches have been phenomenal. Coach Colon is a player’s coach because he gives us the freedom to express ourselves on the field and play with emotion. He guides us when we lose focus, but he allows us to play with passion and drive. Coach Latimer, our pitching coach, has more baseball knowledge than almost anyone I’ve ever met. He’s great at calling pitches and establishing workout routines for our pitchers.”

Pitching was one of St. Luke’s strengths this year, with three of the players in the rotation set to play college ball next spring. Cropper will attend Kenyon College, Higgins will continue his career at Duke University, and Jack Ellis ‘21 will be representing Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Cropper recognizes the depth to the pitching roster: “Our pitching rotation was elite. We gave up very few runs and were able to throw deep into games, but the camaraderie among the players also played a huge part in our success. We truly formed a brotherhood, and the atmosphere we had was based around love and support.”

There were many highlights during the season, but Cropper will remember one in particular that helped keep the title dreams alive. At home against Brunswick School with two outs in the top of the seventh, St. Luke’s made an error on a routine play in the outfield, and the Bruins scored to take a 2-1 lead. Cropper, who had pitched an outstanding seven innings, says nobody hung their heads, and the leadership assured everyone they would win the game if they stayed together. Justin Higgins ‘23 and Teddy Cashman ‘22 were on first and second base when Cropper came to the plate with two outs. The senior captain hit a walk-off double down the third baseline, sending the players and coaching staff into wild celebrations. Cropper says the memory will live with him for a long time: “That moment, as well as our win against Hamden Hall when we clinched our FAA championship, was really special for our entire team and one I will not forget.”
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St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 35 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.