By Dan Hardenbrook
Patience and perseverance paid off for the Newberry Indian Baseball team, who snagged their first victory of the 2026 season at Cedarville-DeTour on Monday.
They won the first game of an EUP Conference doubleheader; the Indians put up their highest run total of the season in a 12-6 final. The win was the first in nine tries this spring.
The offense has been steadily improving as the team gets more time and experience and the work finally returned results in a steady and balanced display.
Everyone in the lineup reached base safely at least once, and six players crossed home plate. Senior Xander Stilson continued his success against the Islanders, reaching safely or adding a hit in all four plate appearances. Stilson drove in three runs and scored twice. It was an impressive follow up to last year’s matchup with the Islanders, where he had 6 hits and 8 RBIs in the 2025 doubleheader.
Fellow senior and co-captain Levi Maki also made a major impact. Maki had a pair of doubles, one of which hit the centerfield fence and was almost a home run. Maki scored two runs in the win.
Oliver Navarro and Owen McNamara both had multiple hits to help lead the attack.
On the mound, McNamara was effective and efficient. He pitched deep into the contest, limiting the Islanders over five innings of work to earning the win. Gaijye Depew came on and closed out the contest, slamming the door shut on any hopes of an Islanders comeback.
Both pitchers had plenty of run support, but also stepped up in a moment of need with the Indians playing shorthanded due to conflicts with the Newberry track team competing at Bark River Harris and two more EUP games against Brimley scheduled for Tuesday, putting a major limit on available pitchers.
Newberry fell just short in game two of the doubleheader. After jumping out to an early lead, the Indians tried to hang on but a key hit down the third baseline broke Cedarville-DeTour’s winless streak, giving them their first win of the season.
Stilson was strong on the mound, throwing all six innings. He gave up just one hit and one run over the first four innings before the Islanders capitalized on errors and overtook Newberry. Stilson added another RBI and Navarro added two more hits. Trailing 5-4 in the 6th, Newberry loaded the bases but could not score forcing them to settle for a split in the twinbill.
The Indians are now 1-9 on the season.
