Sidwell Friends gave all it could against a tough opponent in St. John’s on an unseasonably warm Tuesday night in DC, but ultimately fell short to the Cadets by a score of 7-1.

St. John’s would open the scoring as hosts in the bottom of the first inning after doing what well-coached teams do in a good pitching matchup; executing quality outs for runs. With each team trading multiple clean innings in the field, aided by a big time catch in right field by starter Stephen Koopersmith with two runners in scoring position, Sidwell would answer with some small ball of its own. In the top of the fifth, Alex Allamby would notch the Quakers only hit of the game before being moved over on consecutive plays via the sacrifice and groundball by second baseman Daniel Piho and Koopersmith, respectively. Down 1-0 with the tying run now on third base, starting pitcher George Bankoff, putting pressure on the defense with a “hard 90”, would beat out an errant throw, St. John’s only error on the day, allowing Allamby to score and tie the game.

Unfortunately, the visiting Quakers would give the lead right back, and then some. Bankoff, throwing well in defeat for 4+ innings, would avoid the barrel of potent Cadet bats for most of the day, but after back-to-back walks, St. John’s would find their timing and crack open a close one in the bottom half, batting around, crossing 6. Reliever Cody Encarnacion, making his team-high fourth appearance of the season, would settle in and limit the damage, but by then it was too late. While the Quaker defense executed a season-low two-error effort with the renewed focus post spring break, it was the St. John’s duo of lefties that would limit any Quaker threats, bringing only four more batters than the minimum 21 to the plate.

The Quakers end the road trip 0-3, but return to the friendly confines (of Sidwell) on Friday and look to improve to 2-0 in the MAC against the Huskies of Flint Hill.