Dennehy Era in Style with Winning Season

After an impressive season, boys’ varsity baseball ushered in a new era under head coach Dana Barbin in style on May 29th with a commanding win over Andover. The boys were 13-7 on the year, with big wins against Holderness, Cushing and NMH. Despite a tough first round knockout in the New England Tournament against Worcester, Exeter was able to rebound. They won out the rest of their schedule, ending the year with a victory against arch rivals Andover and winning the rubber game of their three game season series against Big Blue. The team featured sixteen players, with four preps, one lower, six uppers and five seniors, led by senior captain Hunter Carey. The spring of 2013 marked coach Bill Dennehy’s final season as head coach of Big Red’s baseball program.According to Dennehy, this year’s team featured the youngest roster in 45 years and maybe in the history of Exeter baseball. “Five seniors made all the success pos- sible,” Dennehy said. “Max Eaton, Curtis Arsenault, Matt Girard, Mac Flaherty and captain Hunter Carey provided terrific leadership all season long. The improvement in the defense and pitching was what carried the team in the difficult games; the offense was a bit sporadic but came through in the most critical situations. This was one of the most fun teams I have coached in my time at Exeter. They were all terrific young men and I thank them for a great season.”The team was very streaky this year, with three wins, three losses and then four wins in a row in the middle of the season. In just their fifth game of the year, Exeter played poorly, losing 14-1 against a Worcester team that they had shut out earlier in the day, but Big Red rebounded and won their next three games, scoring four or more runs in each game.Despite many believing it impossible that Exeter would get to the New England Tournament, Big Red got there through excellent leadership from the veteran mem- bers of the team and some of the younger members on the roster. Eaton praised the team’s work ethic and perseverance throughout the season. “Over the course of the season, we improved in all aspects,” Eaton said. “We were able to reduce the number of strikeouts we had. For example, in the beginning of the year, we had about ten strikeouts a game, with more than half of them looking. In our final game we had only a few, and we were able to focus more on swinging at those close pitches.”Exeter also saw an improvement in the field. “In the beginning of the year many routine ground balls couldn’t be taken for granted, because of the amount of errors we committed,” Eaton said. “However, our defense became more solid, and that is a major reason why we only gave up four runs in our last two games. It was a great season, and I think that the younger members of the team really learned a lot about the team this year.”The team enjoyed excellent pitching throughout the course of the year, with Arsenault and Carey consistently delivering clutch performances on the mound when the team needed them. Despite other inconsistencies, the team’s pitching remained spectacular, and without it, Exeter may not have had a winning season this year.“It was a great season and truly an honor to have played under Coach Dennehy’s last year here,” prep JT Thompson said. “The older players on the team were great role models. The mindset of the team was always not only to have a good time, but to get down to business when it mattered. We fell short of our true goal in the NEPSAC [New England Preparatory School Athletic Council] Championships, but we ended the season with a much-needed win against Andover, who had just won the New England Championships.”One of the boys’ greatest strengths came from depth and chemistry, as the team worked well as a unit throughout the season. “We definitely had a great season and I think the team was more than the sum of our parts, leading to our 13-7 record

run, and lower Courtney Smith placed rst. Senior Chiamaka Nnebe placed rst in the women’s discus throw, prep Peace Kabari earned third in the triple jump, and upper Emily Moore won third in the pole vault event.Many girls also won somewhere between rst and sixth place in their event, scoring crucial points for the team. “What really made this meet so great is that a lot of people really stepped up and out performed their seeds,” Baker said.“I’m really, really happy with the way that my last Interschol meet went as part of the team,” Baker continued. “I’m really proud of everybody on the team for pulling out great performances all around. People think track’s an individual sport, but we really operated like one unit throughout the whole day and it was just such a great feeling.”“I haven’t necessarily found that much success at Interschols in the past years I’ve competed,” Yang re ected. “To have that happen this year, to be successful, to run a PR, to have the team do so well-- it’s de nitely a nice way to end my track career here and my track career period. It was something really special.”After returning home with championship wins, Exeter faced its long-time rivals the following week. Once again, despite chilly and rainy conditions, Big Red scored big, the boys’ beating An- dover 101-37 and the girls’ 75-60. “Although the weather was terrible, everybody stayed focused on getting one last win for the perfect season,” Scott said. “It was a testament to the team’s hard work and dedication.”“I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end,” Baker agreed. “Everybody brought their best, and despite the awful conditions, we had many great performances and pulled off the win on both sides.”An entire season of hard work culminated in Interschols and E/a, and Augustus-Ikwuakor felt that the meets both went the best they possibly could have.“These student-athletes worked hard and saw success by trusting in the program and the coaches, taking care of their bodies outside of practice, and pushing each other to be better each practice and each meet.”Although both the boys’ and girls’ track team will be losing some strong gures, including Coach AK Ikwuakor and Coach Bruce Shang, Coder feels that next year’s team is promising and will remain at a high level of intensity.“We are graduating a powerful group of seniors, but we are optimistic as we look at the talent and work ethic of those that will return,” Coder said. “Many of the athletes who garnered big points at New England's will have another chance to do the same on next year's team.”"Every year I have been here it has felt like we have huge gaps in the beginning of the season left by the seniors who graduated,” Baker said. “However, people have always stepped up and lled in where they were needed, and I trust next year will be no different.”overall,” lower Tommy Miller said. “The way we ran the bases in that game really showed me how much potential we have next year and that we can be a major threat in the league.”The boys were also boosted by fantastic performances on the mound throughout their season.In his two starts against Andover this season, captain Carey combined for over 250 pitches and hurled complete games in both matchups, with the first game at Andover being seven innings and the game at Exeter being nine innings. Alongside Carey, Arsenault emerged as an impressive #2 pitcher, throwing three complete games.The team was plagued throughout their season by inconsistent hitting. “We got a lot of great starting pitching out of Hunter and Curtis this year, but unfortunately, we couldn’t always drive in the runs to support them,” senior Mac Flaherty said.Miller agreed. “Although we did have a great season, I think we just couldn't get the bat on the ball as much as we could have throughout the course of the season,” he said. “In our tournament game against Worcester Academy, we only got two hits against a pitcher who we hit fairly well against before. We have to be a little more confident at the plate if we're going to want to win the tournament next year. How- ever, overall I think it was a great season, and an honor to play in Coach Dennehy’s last game after his 42 years of coaching.”