S S S S S pr i n g
j Meg Boland ’11 pitched every inning of the season, leading the Rhinos to their first New England Tournament.
Softball 8–5 Taft’s opening 9–0 win over NMH was a sign of things to come for this young but talented team. Lowermid Meg Boland ’11 pitched the no-hitter, and then went on to pitch every inning of the season, leading the Rhinos to their first New England Tournament as the #4 seed. Their 8–3 regular season re-
P P P P
O O O O
Wrap-up by
cord included wins over Kent (7–1) and Hotchkiss (8–5), but Taft could not get past rival Choate in the semifinal game of the tournament. This was the team’s best season in many years, due to the pitching arm of Boland, the fine fielding of Kailey Nash ’08 at short and the steady hitting of Nash and catcher Jessica Desorcie ’11. Liz Van Pelt ’08, Elena Stein ’09, Geneva Lloyd ’10 and Hannah Vasquez ’09 were also powerful at the plate all season. Baseball 7–11 Taft opened the season at 6–5, but three one-run losses made for a tough stretch late in the spring. The Rhinos rebounded for an exciting final win at home, 3–2 over Trinity-Pawling. Down 0–2 with two innings left, Taft’s best pitcher Rex Merdinger ’08 threw three great innings, and cocaptain Mike Mastracola hit the winning, 375-ft. home run—a great way to end the season. Other important wins came over Choate (6–5) and Deerfield (7–6) in extra innings. Cocaptain Ollie Mittag ’08 was awesome at short stop all spring and finished with a .519 OBP and 7 stolen bases. Mastracola (.448 avg, 24 RBI) led the team in hitting, with Sean Bennett ’09 and Bobby Manfreda ’09 also providing power at the plate. Merdinger finished with 57 strikeouts on the season, and Alex Kendall ’09 was also steady on the mound.
R R R R 2008 Steve
TTTT Palmer
Girls’ Tennis 6–7 This was a young team that lost some close matches they would avenge at the Kent tournament late in the season. At this competitive tournament with 27 schools, including the best in New England, Taft finished 6th, with Kahini Dalal ’10 (#1 draw) and Tanya Smith ’09 (#2 draw) both making the consolation finals. The team also posted exciting 4–3 victories over Choate and Westminster. Cocaptains Meg Culbertson ’08 and Nellie Beach ’08 were strong in the first doubles spot all spring, while Smith had the best records in the singles. Boys’ Tennis 9–7 Captain Adam Donaldson ’08 and Nate Burt ’08 gave Taft a powerful one-two punch. Donaldson went undefeated at the #1 singles spot until a close loss at the New England semifinals, and Burt would lose only two matches all season. Together, their combined singles record was a staggering 38–3. Donaldson and captain-elect Charlie Wagner ’09 also lost only once as the #1 doubles team. Highlights of the season included a surprising 7–0 win over a strong Westminster team and a 2nd place finish in the eightteam Southern New England Tennis League, a tournament Taft has won for the past six years. Taft Bulletin Summer 2008
15