Does lightning ever strike twice? Brunswick Academy does. That sizzling sound you hear is Rye Country Day’s Fairchester Athletic Association title hopes burning to a crisp after Tuesday’s second loss to Brunswick, 3-1.

By Mitch Silver

Does lightning ever strike twice? Brunswick Academy does. That sizzling sound you hear is Rye Country Day’s Fairchester Athletic Association title hopes burning to a crisp after Tuesday’s second loss to Brunswick, 3-1.

It’s been a triumphal march this spring for the Wildcats, as they’ve beaten everyone in New York and Connecticut…except the Bruins. With a team ERA of 1.83 (and a WHIP of 1.20, for you sabremetricians) to go with a .391 batting average, Rye Country Day has thrived under co-coaches John Calandros and Michael Pollak, overcoming the twin graduation losses of mound mainstay Tyler Fernandez and first-sacker Peter Shu to the Ivy League.

“Thrived” is an understatement. They’ve been beating teams with their bats, their arms, and their brains. On Monday they crushed Riverdale, 13-0. Three days earlier they beat Hopkins Grammar for the second time in a week, 8-3. The closest the Wildcats came to an actual nail-biter was a 5-3 comeback win against St. Luke’s April 21. That’s when Enzo Stafanoni came on in relief and stopped a rally without throwing a pitch. The trick play, designed to lure the man on third to break for home, consisted of a fake pickoff to first and a throw to second baseman Luke Cappellano. Ignoring the runner coming at him, Cappellano whipped a strike to catcher Liam Dalton, nabbing the runner from third and extinguishing the rally.

It was Stefanoni, only a sophomore, who toed the rubber Tuesday against a Brunswick team that beat the Wildcats 4-1 April 17. That first game was tied going into the bottom of the sixth, with Stefanoni yielding only five hits in six innings. Two bang-bang plays at home that cost his team runs determined the outcome.

In the replay, Rye Country Day outhit Brunswick again. This time the young pitcher threw seven strong innings but was undone by the Bruins’ timely hitting and two errors behind him in the field.

Coach Pollak had nothing but praise for the winners. “Brunswick is an excellent and deep team, with wins this season against Poly Prep and George Washington, the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked teams in New York City. Dartmouth College was at the game scouting both of their pitchers, the same combo we saw in our first game against them.”

The 9-2 Wildcats move on to play three home games in four days, starting with Greens Farms Friday.