The Sixth Street Rivalry always brings crowds and this year should be no different, especially on the baseball diamond. Both the Stags and Sagehens are led by preseason All-Americans. For the Sagehens, second baseman Jack Gold PO ’27 parlayed his 2025 SCIAC Athlete of the Year into a first-team nod, while the Stags’ first baseman Alex Henderson CM ‘27 earned a second-team slot after a debut season in Claremont that ended with multiple All-American recognitions.
Gold and Henderson both find themselves on the right side of the infield, but defensive prowess alone does not garner All-American recognition. Both hitters thrive at the plate, with On-Base-Plus-Slugging (OPS), a common metric for comparing hitters, over 1.200. No MLB hitter reached that mark in 2025.
Despite their status as elite hitters, both recognize that baseball is a game of failure for batters, with the best only succeeding one-third of the time, and that a flexible mindset is needed to handle that fact.
“I always love a challenge, and baseball is probably the best sport for that. I was always fascinated with it growing up,” Henderson said. “Being able to fail seven out of 10 times and still being the best player on the field is pretty remarkable, and it’s the only sport that you can do that in.”
That failure, for Henderson, is more than just a setback on the diamond. Failure teaches him lessons that carry beyond baseball, helping him learn from his mistakes in life..
“[My] being able to understand that failure [is important],” Henderson said. “Whether it’s business, school or something else, you’re going to fail a ton. Being able to learn from that mistake and not dwell on it [is key]. I give myself 10 seconds after an at-bat, I can do whatever I want, say whatever I want and then it’s over — it’s on to the next one.”
Even given that a batter will fail more often than they succeed, failure is not all or nothing. To succeed as much as the game allows, both athletes focus on steady improvement and consistency, driven by a high work ethic.
“Just being forgiving to myself every day and getting 1 percent better is what I like to tell myself,” Gold said. “Did I do one thing well today? Did I get better at one thing? And if I stack on those one-percent’s, those point five-percent’s, whatever it may be that day, I’ll have a good season.”
For all the effort and care they put into their game, both Gold and Henderson’s teammates appreciate them for their personalities off the field as well. Dillon Martin CM ’27 noted that Henderson’s relaxed personality allows him to succeed, making him an ideal teammate.
“He doesn’t really take stuff too seriously,” Martin said. “There’s a time to really lock in and get his work in, which he does, but at the same time, he’s able to go about things without having to be all serious all the time. It makes him fun to be around and makes it fun to be his teammate.”
William Wallce PO ’27, Gold’s teammate and roommate, echoed this sentiment, describing how Gold’s demeanor leads to high achievement, especially in stressful situations. The “clutch gene” Gold possesses, as Wallace believes, has helped him garner All-American status.
“He just plays loose, he plays confident and he really shows up in the big situations, which I’m sure contributes a lot to why he is first team All-American and one of the best second basemen in the country,” Wallace said.
Gold and Henderson both stood out in 2025, but their college baseball journeys have taken different paths. After transferring to CMC from Occidental College last spring, Henderson had to navigate the stresses of a new school environment while co-anchoring a lineup led by Andrew Mazzonne CG ’26.
“Having to adjust to the school life here, the academic rigor and then trying to excel at baseball, it was a lot to balance,” Henderson said. “But I think just sort of putting my head down and working has helped me get to where I’m at.”
Gold had a more traditional recruiting experience, entering as a true freshman in 2024. He stood out immediately for his defensive and on-base prowess, leading the SCIAC in walks. His freshman season allowed him to thrive while learning behind the star power of All-Americans Isaac Kim PO ’24 and JC Ng PO ’25.
Last year, Gold took the next step, posting a team leading OPS, slugging and home runs. Wallace credits both Gold’s hard work and the impact of his star teammates around him.
“I know last year, JC Ng was a big role model for him, and would help him out a lot,” Wallace said. “I think that plays a big role: having that trust in your teammates, and being able to have a way to fall back on them as well.”
For both Henderson and Gold, their time to shine has come. Their respective captains from last year, Ng and Mazzonne, graduated, but both teams still have postseason aspirations. Both teams are ranked in the preseason top 20, with CMS at 12 and P-P at 19. CMS additionally received one first-place vote.
The play of the two preseason All-Americans will go a long way to determining the top of the SCIAC, and potentially spill over into the NCAA tournament.
Both teams open their highly anticipated seasons on Friday, Feb. 6. CMS will play away at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, Texas, at 4 p.m while P-P will host Pacific University at 2 p.m. on Alumni Field. The excitement for a Sixth Street All-American matchup will have to wait, however, as the annual Sixth Street series takes place on April 10 and 11, with the opening game hosted by the Sagehens and the Saturday doubleheader by the Stags.