By David Fierro
Coming off a successful season in which it won the FCIAC West Division title, earned the No. 2 seed in the FCIAC Tournament and was victorious in the first round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament, Greenwich High School’s varsity baseball team’s game against Staples on April 10 couldn’t come soon enough.
The game against the Wreckers was the long-awaited season-opener for the Cardinals, whose first three scheduled games against Amity, Immaculate and Saint Bernard’s were postponed due to rain, so head coach Adrian Arango’s team was more than ready to finally start their 2025 season against an opponent that gave them plenty of problems in 2024 – the Wreckers, ranked No. 1 No. 1 in the GameTimeCT Top 10 poll to start the season.
Staples went 3-0 against Greenwich last season, posting shutout wins each time, yet it was the Cardinals who earned a convincing shutout win before their season-opening home crowd on April 10. Receiving standout pitching and timely hitting, Greenwich defeated 2024 CIAC Class LL Tournament finalist Staples, 6-0.
Sophomore right-hander Luke Langhorne and senior left-hander Lucas Meinelt combined on a one-hitter for Greenwich, who scored four runs in the third inning on its way to recording the decisive win over the Wreckers.
Greenwich finished atop the FCIAC West Division standings in 2024 and had an overall record of 11-4 in the FCIAC, which earned it the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. However, Staples was indeed, the Cardinals’ nemesis one season ago.
“Three games last year, we didn’t score one run and we were the two seed, we were one of the better teams in the league and they just had our number,” Arango said. “They beat us non-conference, they beat us up in-conference, they beat us up in the FCIAC playoffs and I think the boys who are back from last year remembered that. I think it was our time.”
It most certainly was for the Cardinals. The Cardinals posted nine hits, while putting a good number of runners on base throughout this non-conference matchup – the conference games don’t begin until next week – making the Wreckers’ pitchers work.
“It feels great, last year we didn’t score a run against them and coming out today, not letting up a run and winning 6-0 is huge,” said Cardinals senior right fielder Nick D’Andrea, one of the team’s five captains. “It sets the tone for the season and all the guys are ready to keep going.”
Senior center fielder/captain Emerson Bulis went 2 for 3 with a home run, two runs scored and an RBI, senior first baseman/captain Max Marek was 2 for with three RBIs and junior third baseman Baxter Conte had two hits in three at-bats and one run scored for the Cardinals (1-0).
“It feels amazing, because baseball is such a mental game and it’s so easy to mentally be defeated,” Marek said. “Knowing that we lost to Staples all last year and didn’t score a run and also the fact that our past three games have been cancelled and postponed – that could have a mental toll on this team and I couldn’t be happier that everyone was ready to roll today.”
Greenwich’s first run came in the second inning of Staples’ senior right-hander Andrew Oppenheimer, who had a lot of success against the Cardinals last spring. D’Andrea led off the second inning for the hosts with a single to center field, Langhorne was hit by a pitch and senior captain/second baseman Aidan Brehm bunted and reached first base on an error, loading the bases. Marek was then hit by an Oppenheimer pitch, forcing in a run and giving Greenwich a 1-0 lead.
Greenwich’s season-opener versus Staples marked the squad’s first game at its field at Greenwich High School since the 2023 season. A year ago, Greenwich played all of its home games at Havemeyer Park in town due to the fact that the field at Greenwich High was being renovated.
“We’ve been itching to play, we’ve had some games pushed back, so we’re really excited to be on our home field – our first time back on our home field in more than a year,” Brehm said.
The Cardinals also swung their bats well against the Wreckers’ top starting pitcher.
“The offseason was great, we got a lot of swings in,” Brehm noted. “It was amazing to see everybody, because last season, one of our flaws last year was that didn’t hit great. It was great seeing that throughout the beginning of the season.”
“It was amazing to see us hit so well, you love to see it, especially this early in the season,” Brehm continued. “Right off the jump we were amazing.”
The Cardinals added four more runs in the pivotal bottom of the third inning. Bulis doubled to right center field to start the inning. Conte was hit by a pitch and D’Andrea walked, sending Langhorne to the plate with the bases loaded.
Langhorne delivered, lining a two-run single to center field and giving Greenwich a 3-0 advantage and helping his cause on the mound.
“Luke is not just a pitcher, he can swing the bat,” Arango noted. “We have a bunch of bats in this lineup, we have kids on the bench who can really swing too, so it’s going to be tough for me as a coach to figure out what buttons to push.”
A tall, lanky, hard-throwing right-hander, Langhorne registered two strikeouts in three scoreless innings.
“The slider was working pretty well,” Langhorne said. “The fastball, I was able to get some good strikes on it. The change-up, also had its break.”
The Cardinals’ season-opening starting pitcher left the game pleased with his overall performance.
“I thought it was pretty good,” said Langhorne, whose brother Miles was a standout starting pitcher for the Cardinals and is now pitching professionally in the Milwaukee Brewers organization in the minor leagues. “I’ve loved this game since I was a kid, I’ve always pushed to be the best that I could be and I felt we all worked together well today. It always makes it easier as a pitcher when your guys put up six runs, it can’t get better than that.”
Showing fine plate discipline, Marek hit a two-run single in the third inning, putting Greenwich ahead, 5-0.
“He threw me fastball that I thought I was on and I just missed it and then he had a pretty good breaking ball and I knew I had to make contact,” Marek noted. “It was a breaking ball away, I stayed balanced let my weight stay back and kind of lifted it over the second baseman’s head.”
“Baseball is a sport where it doesn’t have to be a 110 mile per hour hit, it can be a little bloop,” Marek added with a smile. “I’m very happy for myself because it was an opposite field hit and I don’t do that, that much.”
Staples, which to the championship game of the CIAC Class LL Tournament last season, where it lost to Amity, was limited to one hit against GHS. Senior catcher Jacob Goldshore had the Wreckers’ lone hit. The visitors drew three walks in the early innings but couldn’t break through.
“We didn’t cash in, we had some baserunners and that’s what the game is all about,” Staples coach Jack McFarland said. “They obviously, got the clutch hits and outpitched us. The four-run third inning was key.”
Senior Benjamin Cukier pitched one third of an inning and junior Mark Kelly threw three innings for the Wreckers.
“We’re playing a couple of games in a row, so we’re trying to mix and match and play some kids,” McFarland noted. “These are non-league games, so it’s important that we get kids out there in situations.”
The Cardinals and Wreckers will face each other again on April 30 in Westport.
“I feel good about the team, I’m excited about the rest of the week and getting the league games started,” McFarland said. “The FCIAC is loaded, everybody has arms. It’s how you play that day, anybody can beat anybody.”
Meinelt posted seven strikeouts in his four stellar innings for the Cards. Obviously, Arango was extremely pleased with his pitcher’s performances.
“Luke (Langhorne) was tremendous, he pitched last year for us as a freshman and he’s going to be a big part of what we do the next few years,” Arango said. “Lucas has made such tremendous strides from last year to this year. He’s a senior, he goes out there and competes. He is going to be one of our big guys going forward.”
Bulis capped Greenwich’s scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning, hitting a home run over the right center field fence, making it 6-0.
“There’s no better feeling,” Bulis said of his homer. “I felt really confident at the plate, even after I struck out my first at-bat on a great pitch. But I didn’t let that waver my mentality. I wanted to keep my confidence up the entire game, because I knew I felt well and I know the damage I can cause when I’m feeling well and feeling confident at the plate.”
Arango point to Marek’s two-run single as also being one of the Cardinals’ clutch hits versus the Wreckers.
“Max’s hit was huge, you have a 3-0 lead against the No. 1 team in the state – a great offense,” Arango noted. “He (Marek) gets a two-run single – going from 3-0 to 5-0 is a major difference.”
Greenwich’s head coach praised the leadership and intangibles the squad’s five captains bring.
“We have five guys this year, tremendous guys,” Arango said of the Cards’ captains. “All guys with varsity experience from last year. All guys who played a lot or started at some point last year.”
Cardinals senior captain Hank van Schaik knew it was going to take a team effort to top formidable Staples. Van Schaik is one of Greenwich’s catchers, along with sophomore Ryder Caruso, senior Nick Wells and senior Jake Melley.
“Everyone on the field and everyone on the bench, did their job,” Van Schaik said. “We tried to emphasize that last practice, everyone do their job, whether they are on the bench or on the field. Taking that out of this game was probably the most important thing. I’m ecstatic seeing all the hits we got today and all the runs we produced.”
Greenwich visits non-conference opponent Immaculate on April 14, hosts Fairfield Ludlowe on April 15, then visits Ludlowe on April 17 next week.
“Our goals are high,” Arango said. “Last year we made a statement coming back after the year we had the year before. Finishing second in our league, winning our division, winning our state tournament game – I think our goals are a little loftier now. That being said, we know how difficult the league is, the state is. We have three teams ranked in the top 10 in state polls.”
