In the world of 5C varsity baseball, no series is a better barometer for a team’s season than the annual duel on Sixth Street.
This year, the Sagehens defended the coop in a high-scoring slugfest versus Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) on April 12, taking two out of three against the Stags. With two weeks left in the season, only three games separate the third and fifth seeds in the SCIAC. With CMS sitting in third and Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) just a single game behind them in fifth, both teams are carving out their paths back to the playoffs.
The victory over CMS was a much-needed series win for a Sagehens team that has struggled to live up to expectations following their appearance in the College World Series last year. Despite coming into the season ranked No. 8 nationally by D3Baseball.com, P-P was out of the top 25 entirely by week six.
“I think the team has felt the pressure a little bit of having to come back and reproduce what we did last year,” Sagehens left fielder Jack Gold PO ’27 said. “We were playing kind of afraid at the beginning. We were playing not to lose. Now we are finally coming together as a team.”
Gold is currently leading the conference with eight home runs and a whopping 1.684 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). He’s just one of many position players who have stepped up after the loss of last year’s senior class, which included the American Baseball Coaches Association’s 2024 Position Player of the Year Isaac Kim PO ’24.
“Isaac Kim, Nate [Jakobs PZ ’24] and all those other guys made it seem super easy to get to where we were in the World Series,” Gold said. “Those guys were in the cages, they were off the field working on their bodies. Everyone’s now finally realized that that’s what it takes to get there.”
According to Gold, the team’s culture of leadership has continued through players like JC Ng PO ’25, helping pave the way for breakout seasons for underclassmen like himself and Cooper Berry PZ ’27.
Though the Sagehens have managed to retain their high-scoring offense from last season, injuries to their ace duo, 2024 All-Americans Jake Hilton PO ’25 and Hannoh Seo PO ’26, have dropped them from the top pitching staff in the SCIAC down to sixth. Starting pitcher Ethan Collins PO ’25 said he has “no expectations” for Hilton, who pitched just five games this season, and Seo, who has not pitched at all this year, to return this season.
“Everybody on the staff knew going into this year was going to be different than how we originally planned it,” Collins said. “We’ve had a lot of guys step into positions they didn’t think they would be in.”
With a 2.54 ERA, Collins has anchored a pitching staff that has had to operate largely by committee, leading to an inconsistent season on the mound for the Hens.
The team’s struggles hit their apex in March when La Verne beat them in a three-game sweep and outscored P-P 23-5 in the series. Gold called La Verne’s dominance a “wake-up call” heading into their series against CMS.
“Collectively as a group we [said], ‘we’re not going to lose this, we’re not going to go down without a fight,’” Gold said. “Coming out of that with two big wins really brought us together, and now really propelled us into this later half of the season.”
The series may have truly lit the spark under their feathers, as the Hens have won eight of their last nine conference games. They’ll need that hot streak to continue as they face their biggest challenge yet this coming weekend against California Lutheran’s elite starting rotation. Still, Collins is confident that P-P’s staff will help dethrone the Kingsmen.
“We’re going to do everything we can to limit the number of free passes we give them … we’re going to make them put a good swing on the baseball,” Collins said. “The older guys are ready to go in and give it their all in the last few weeks of regular season baseball we have.”
Much like P-P, injuries have been a daunting presence looming over the Stags. Captain Jack Potter CM ’25 medically retired after being hit in the head by a pitch on March 28. Andrew Mazzone CG ’25, arguably the conference’s best hitter, hasn’t stepped on the field since tearing his PCL on April 5.
Even without two of their top hitters, the Stags outscored the Hens in the series, dominating them 15-4 in game one and holding close in both games of the Saturday doubleheader. Mazzone, currently second in the conference in OPS, described just how deep their offense is.
“It has been a really good showing of the guys in terms of their resilience without me,” Mazzone said.
Despite 2023 SCIAC Player of the Year Julian Sanders CM ’24 graduating last year, this season, CMS’s offense has only improved. The Stags are the only team in the conference with a staggering six players hitting above a 1.000 OPS in overall play, including Dillon Martin CM ’27, Bryce Didrickson HM ’26 and Nate Seluga HM ’27.
“It really comes down to the success of last year, being able to kind of see and understand what it’s like to be on a team that you know constantly just hits the ball and slugs,” Mazzone said.
“Being a part of that culture, where guys who come here want to hit the ball, they want to rake.”
The Stags haven’t had their own field in three years, and while this has caused difficulties, Mazzone explained that it has not stopped them from excelling. He suggested that playing “home” games at Redlands, La Verne and even Azusa Pacific has made them the most adaptable team in the conference.
“The countless hours that we spend in the cages because we don’t have a field, ironically really helps us get better,” Mazzone said. “It doesn’t matter where the game is. We are going to show up and we are going to hit.”
Though CMS will also face off against Cal Lu in their final series of the season starting May 2, Mazzone made clear they’re taking their matchup this week against Caltech just as seriously.
“Every team has an opportunity to beat another team, especially playing in these three-game sets,” he said. “If we want to continue being successful, we’re gonna have to play our hardest both this weekend and next week.”
Mazzone is hopeful that he will return to face off against the Kingsmen, and with their best hitter back in the lineup, the Stags are shaping up for a dominant postseason run.
“It’s my last year,” Mazzone said. “I want to do whatever the hell I can just to get back out there.”
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