“I don’t need anything else,” the sophomore said. “I’m good with that.”

After six back-and-forth innings, the Barons (8-4) entered the seventh with an 8-7 advantage, placing the Vikings (8-0) on the brink of their first defeat. Down to its final out, Whitman tied the score when Chand Amerasinghe smacked a double that tipped off the center fielder’s glove.

After a walk, Pelmoter came to the plate. Not long after, he eagerly met his animated teammates after a trip around the bases.

“I wasn’t even thinking. I was just so excited,” Pelmoter said. “It didn’t really hit me until I went back out in the field … Just a surreal moment.”

Both teams took advantage of the favorable dimensions of B-CC’s home field to blast five combined home runs. The difference: all three of the Vikings’ home runs came with runners on base, while the Barons — playing their fifth game in as many days — hit two solo shots.

Whitman first baseman Ethan Murley, an Ithaca commit, went deep in his first two at-bats, finishing the day 4 for 4 with five runs batted in.

“That’s just baseball — some days you’re on, some you’re not,” Murley said. “Today I was seeing the ball well, just put the barrel to it. No better day to do it than against a rival school.”

In the hours before a lacrosse game, Landon’s Davis Owens often heads to his quiet place. He maneuvers the school’s halls and finds its art room. He pulls his headphones out of his backpack and puts pencil to paper.

The senior midfielder has helped the Bears to a 10-2 start that includes eight consecutive victories, and he credits his success to the hours he spends drawing every week. That time away from lacrosse and school allows Owens to decompress and clear his head before hitting the field.

“It gets my heart rate low, and I just zone in on the drawing,” he said.

Owens started drawing in middle school art class. After his homework assignments produced standout work, Owens spent more of his free time honing his skills. It’s become his biggest hobby outside of lacrosse, and a perfect escape from the game.

The Bears have the most wins of any Interstate Athletic Conference team this season with a staunch defense and high-powered offense that is anchored by Owens. Before each of those victories, the midfielder could be found in his studio. He hopes his pre-match routine helps leads to more victories.

“It’s a de-stressor,” he said. “It really lets my brain relax.”

Nathaniel Mintzer is committed to run track and field at Tulane University next year. When he gets to New Orleans, he will be given full-time access to an outdoor track for the first time in years.

The Georgetown Day senior is one of the top sprinters in the district, despite his school not having a track. In past years, Georgetown Day has partnered with American University to use its stadium. But the Eagles’ track is undergoing construction this spring.

So, the Grasshoppers have to get creative. They run through local neighborhoods or parks, and in bad weather they do hurdles in the hallways of Georgetown Day.

“We’re nomadic,” Coach Anthony Belber said.

Numerous public schools don’t have a full outdoor eight-lane track, but Georgetown Day’s setup is abnormal for a private school.

Mintzer and his teammates use it as motivation. Belber said that his team has plentiful depth this year. The Grasshopper’s relay team could surprise at large meets.

“We don’t have a track, so we’re tougher,” Mintzer said. “When we get to the track meets, it’s really a luxury for us, that we’re able to compete and run quality times in the state… Even though we don’t have a track to practice on.”

Following a 2023 season that saw it win the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship and finish in second place at D.C. states, the Gonzaga golf team knew this year would be the end of an era.

The Eagles have eight seniors on their roster this season. While some of those seniors will continue playing competitively in college, there is still a shared belief that one more successful season would be the most fulfilling end to their time playing high school golf.

“We’ve seen what it’s like for seniors to go out with a win and how exciting that is,” said Gonzaga co-captain and Bucknell commit Jack Hartman. “We’re just trying to end our high school careers on the highest note possible.”

The Eagles are off to a good start on that front, going undefeated through five matches. Four of their wins have come in WCAC play.

Even with a focus on the ultimate goal of leaving on top, this spring is also about being in the moment and cherishing the opportunity to play one last season together.

“The fun part about it is that a good part of our team — we are friends,” said co-captain Patrick Pritsios, who will join Hartman at Bucknell in the fall. “We see each other in school and we [go to] dinner after practices and matches. There’s always enjoyable moments.”

This was a big match, and the Lewis Lancers knew it. Last year’s Class 6 state finalists are off to a strong start this spring, but a surprising Falls Church team has kept their pace in the National District. The Lancers and Jaguars were undefeated entering Friday’s contest.

“Every district match is a big match,” Lewis Coach John Millward said. “But with this one in particular we knew that, if we could get a result, we could control our own destiny down the stretch in terms of seeding. So we had this game circled on the calendar when Falls Church got off to a hot start.”

The past few years have been transformative for Lewis, as the Lancers have evolved into one of the area’s top programs. That kind of change has effects both good and bad: The program now enters a big match with more confidence, but it also faces more motivated opponents.

At halftime of Friday’s match, the Lancers trailed 1-0. Millward told his team that it was clear the Jaguars wanted it more. The players did not like that, and they responded with two quick goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Sophomore Jeremy Orellana headed in a cross, and junior Giovanni Hernandez put Lewis ahead few minutes later. After a 2-1 win, the Lancers are 7-0-1.

“The standard has been raised here at Lewis, and these guys know they are now responsible for keeping that standard,” Millward said. “A performance like that on Friday takes us in the right direction.”