By Dan Hardenbrook
If the 2024 season was a nightmare for the Newberry Indians Varsity Baseball team, then Saturday’s season opener had to feel like a dream come true. The Indians, still being held back by Mother Nature at home, travelled south to open the 2025 campaign against the Sand Creek Aggies. The two teams got a full big time opening day experience, playing under the lights on the beautiful turf field at Adrian College. Despite coming up short in 15-11 and 8-5 losses, it was that experience that mattered most to the Indians.
“We came a long way just to get games in and the guys made the most of every opportunity they had,” said Coach Dan Hardenbrook. “For our first time outside this season, many guys played their first game in many years, and the environment that we had the chance to play in—I would say we exceeded expectations and played really well against a strong opponent.”
The Indians got right to work, loading the bases in their very first at bat. They came up empty-handed, but it set the tone for a day that saw the team score its highest win total in several seasons.
The runs started coming in the second inning as timely hitting and aggressive baserunning paid off. The Indians led early and held on until late in the contest, pushing Sand Creek, located just north of the Ohio border, to their limit.
The Aggies, a strong Division 3 program that scrimmaged the Indians on last season’s spring training trip to Myrtle Beach, were ranked at one point last season while the Indians struggled to compete. On Saturday it was a totally different story on the start of what could be a promising season for Newberry.
Matthew Rahilly made his return after missing last season due to injury and made an immediate impact, starting on the mound and throwing three strong innings. At the plate he went three-for-three with a pair of singles and a triple, walked twice, drove in four runs and stole five bases. A strong middle of the order performance also saw senior Jude Taylor reach base all five times he was up and Ethan Pavey reach safely four out of his five times at the plate. Logan Thiele earned his first varsity hit, and Colter Kitzman added his first-ever RBI. The Indians led most of the contest before falling behind in the final few at bats.
Game two of the double header saw Newberry take a different approach, falling behind early before battling back. Showing a new mindset this season, the Indians came roaring back after falling behind 8-1 early in the game.
Instead of letting their opponents run away with it, this year’s Indians cut the lead down to 8-5 in the final inning and put themselves in a position to tie the game late before Sand Creek escaped.
Rahilly, Pavey, Matthew Luebkert, and Kade Schroeder all pitched well, with most of the Aggie’s eight runs coming off errors.
The Indians will take those lessons learned and move on, with their next scheduled contest coming Friday at Mackinaw City.
