Caleb Gottry attends Chandler Preparatory Academy and is a member of the AIA’s Student SID program.

On Tuesday, March 1, the Chandler Prep Titans played their first home game against the Highland Prep Honey Badgers. After a rain-canceled home game on February 23, the Titans finally returned to Shawnee Park for a decisive 23-8 win in four-and-a-half innings. 

After a no-run inning from the Honey Badgers with two strikeouts by Titan senior Lois Brodnik, Chandler Prep showed their explosive offensive power. Three swings of the bat and senior Isabella Guadian hit a double into left field. The Titans had 13 batters come to the plate in the bottom of the first and scored 10 runs. Every Titan crossed home plate, with Guadian scoring twice. 

Throughout the game, Chandler Prep took advantage of Highland Prep fielding errors to get on base as well as taking a base on passed balls. The Titans also hit several line drive doubles past the infielders. After every player in the Chandler Prep starting lineup had logged two at-bats, new Titans subbed in offensively, and freshman, Kyra Tucker took the mound for the Titan defense. Seeing nearly every player play on Tuesday, Head Coach Guadian has a lot of confidence in the team to succeed:

“We’re super excited about what we have this season. We have a very talented team. They are gelling and working together. They are having a lot of fun together. I think this is a great squad. It’s still early, but they’re learning and they’re having a lot of fun while they are doing it.”

As an offering of mercy beyond the five inning mercy rule, the Titans also had several players get themselves out by leading off before the pitch was thrown. By doing this, Chandler Prep ensured that they never had more than nine batters hit in a single inning after the first. 

Highland Prep scored two runs in the third inning, five runs in the fourth, and one run in the fifth. Tucker gave up several walks, but Chandler Prep fielders prevented any hits in the last four innings of the five-inning game. The Honey Badgers did show their skills in base running, however, with nine stolen bases. 

Ultimately, Titan sophomore Leighan Pietri struck out the last batter to win the game 23-8 in the top of the fifth.

The Chandler Prep Titans play their next game away against the Miami Vandals on March 3rd at 4:00pm. Titan Up.