Knights eyeing region title in baseball

By Rob Gantt

Special to the HSSR

GOOSE CREEK - Stratford High School’s baseball team is battle-tested as the season heads into the home stretch.

Second-year Knights coach Tony Osterman believes testing his team against some of the best squads in the state earlier this spring will benefit the Knights at the end of the campaign, which has arrived. Many teams Stratford encountered earlier were ranked in the preseason or are currently ranked in their respective classification.

“We’ve got a chance to win the region and a chance to make a push for state,” Osterman said. “We’re still a young team. We kind of blend our sophomores and freshmen in with the juniors and seniors. The more they play in games like this (against tough opponents), I think they will only get better. I think we can be a team to be reckoned with once we get our pitching back.”

Stratford won for the fifth time in six tries on March 26, beating Cane Bay 9-3 in the second game of their Region 6-5A series. It gave the Knights a series win to start region play. Stratford won the series opener March 25, coasting past the Cobras 11-0 in five innings.

In game two of the series, leadoff hitter Jachin Davis collected two hits and three RBIs and earned the win on the mound. The Knights built up a 7-0 lead over Davis’ three innings. Catcher Braydon Burnett added two RBIs for Stratford.

In game one, Stratford pitcher Jarrett Wagner struck out 11 batters and allowed just one hit over five innings. Davis, Wagner, and infielder Gavin Garcia each tallied two hits, with Davis knocking in three runs.

“Our team has a lot of character,” Osterman said. “They are playing to win, not to lose. They’ve come together and play with a lot of effort. It’s a team effort.”

In girls soccer, A.B. Kolesar scored twice, including the winner in overtime, and Kaelyn Sanders added another as Stratford’s girls celebrated a 3-2 win over crosstown rival Goose Creek March 28.



In boys soccer March 28, Stratford recorded its fourth straight shutout victory, blanking visiting crosstown rival Goose Creek 5-0 in a Region 6-5A match.

Jackson McNeil tallied two goals for Stratford, while Vinny Teixeira, Nathan Arroyo and Maddox Levesque added one goal each.