New Haven Baseball Wraps Up Season With Grit And Growth

The Shamrocks baseball team stayed resilient through tough competition and finished the season with a 2-15 record.

New Haven head coach Aaron Peirick is proud of his boys for grinding it out until the end and giving it their all, even when they faced all odds. He explained, “I think that we played good baseball at times. Most games we played good baseball for large portions of the games. We just weren’t as consistent as we would have liked. I think we did get better over the course of the season and that is what you want to see from a team, and I am proud of them for that.”

Despite some of the valleys the Shamrocks had to undergo, there were still peaks, such as their two monumental wins.

New Haven seized their first victory with a 14-0 sweeping of Wellsville-Middletown on Mar. 28. It was their first shutout victory in nine years. 

The Shamrocks also won their first conference game since 2015, slaying the St. James Tigers 7-4 on Apr. 4. 

Peirick stated that even with their two victories being “major memories,” there were still “highlights from each game.”

One of New Haven’s most memorable battles was an extra-innings thriller against Christian on Apr. 19. Despite falling 4-3, New Haven gave a great fight to a tough Eagles squad.

Peirick’s other favorite memories from this season included “Highlights of guys doing something in practice or games that we have been asking them to do, and they had been working on. And even just our team having fun with each other at practice every day.”

Junior Ryan “Sticks” Steinbeck and freshman Trevor Hinten had many highlights on the field. The two were awarded second-team all-conference honors for their efforts. The two forces helped keep the Shamrocks neck-and-neck in close matches. 

Seniors Thomas Wiedemann, Liam White, Andrew Noelke, Brandon Canania and Austin Bradley also gave it their all in their final year. 

Batting Stats

The Shamrocks racked up 95 hits with 78 singles, 16 doubles and a triple. They brought in 38 runs, 31 RBIs and 52 walks with 344 batting appearances.

Steinbeck was a dominant slugger with a team-high 17 hits. He also grabbed six runs, 5 RBIs, 13 singles, four doubles and five walks.

Hinten made five doubles on 13 hits in his first season. He also recorded six runs, 5 RBIs, seven singles and a triple.

Noelke executed 14 hits, with 13 singles and one double. He drew up six walks, four runs and an RBI.

Michael McFerrin drove in a team-high 6 RBIs. He also collected nine hits, eight singles, a run, a double and four walks.

Weston Hecktor led the Shamrocks with 11 walks. He unleashed seven hits, six singles, 4 RBIs, a run and a double.

Jace Ritchie got two runs, a walk and two hits for singles.

Canania delivered four hits for four singles, two runs, an RBI and a walk.

Reid Lueckenhoff balled out with 13 hits, 11 singles, three runs, 3 RBIs, four walks and two doubles.

Jacob Gerdes unleashed nine hits, eight singles, six runs, seven walks, an RBI and a double.

Bradley tallied eight hits, six singles, three runs, 3 RBIs, seven walks and two doubles.

Wiedemann contributed eight walks, 2 RBIs, a run, a hit and a single.

Cole Nieman made it home twice and recorded a hit for a single.

White recorded one walk.