There was certainly no shortage of runs and hits when Brunswick School and Greenwich Country Day School tested their skills against each other in the first game of an FAA varsity baseball rivalry series on April 27th, with both squads scoring early, behind quality at-bats.

Yet the Bruins, who have been surging for quite a while, had too much offense for the Tigers on this day on their way to adding another FAA win to their record.

Junior shortstop Jayden Montanez went 4 for 4, including a home run for Brunswick, which pounded out 16 hits in a 14-7 victory over visiting Greenwich Country Day in an FAA game. The Bruins, who are 10-1 in their last 11 games, are 9-3 in the FAA and sport a stellar 12-4 record overall.

“It was a back-and-forth game,” Brunswick coach Connor Redahan said, following Brunswick’s victory at home versus GCDS. “I thought we did enough defensively to keep it at bay on our side. The story of the day was definitely the bats.”

“The two-out hitting in key moments was fantastic,” Redahan continued. “Guys in scoring position were coming through in big spots. Everyone was finding the green today.”

Junior center fielder Tyrus Ostrowski, first baseman Jack Bylow and second baseman Owen Bartoszek also had multiple hits for Brunswick, which scored three runs in the first inning, two in the second and five in the third inning.

“I think we’ve finally got to the point where we’re clicking, everyone is firing on all cylinders,” Ostrowski said after the Bruins’ home victory against the Tigers. “We had selfless swings, swinging for the team in some situations, knowing that we need runs.”

Greenwich Country Day School, which was 4-9 heading into their home matchup against ‘Wick, scored one run in the first inning, then added four runs in the top of the third inning to tie the score at 5-5 against the hosts.

“It was good, it was something we’ve been waiting to see,” GCDS coach Will Colombo said of his squad’s offensive production against the Bruins in the opening game of this home-and-home series. “Obviously, it wasn’t enough but I thought the approach from our guys was very good – two out hits in situations, but clearly, not enough.”

The host Bruins took their first lead of the game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Montanez led off the first inning with a double, then scored on a triple to deep right field by Ostrowski off GCDS senior left-hander Max Rodgers. Outfielder Nate Cook followed by hitting a double to right center field, scoring Ostrowski and putting the Bruins on top, 2-1.

“As a team, we just try to hit the ball hard somewhere,” Cook said. That’s what we’re focusing on right now and we executed that.”

Brunswick’s recent eight-game winning streak was snapped with a 12-5 road loss to FAA rival Hopkins School on April 24, but is now focused on its current success streak.

“We played great, we just had a big loss against Hopkins the other day,” Cook noted. “We had an eight-game win streak, so we had to come out strong today.”

With the bases loaded in the opening inning, Bartoszek was hit by a Rodgers pitch, plating a run to make it 3-1 in favor of the Bruins. In the second inning, Cook hit a sacrifice fly and Bylow delivered an RBI single, extending Brunswick’s advantage to 5-1.

The Tigers tied the score at 5-5 with a four-run third inning off Bruins right-hander Julen Dyson, who threw three innings. Junior designated hitter Jaxson Perez drove in a run with a single, while freshman third baseman Henry Gittes plated a pair of runs by singling up the middle, evening the score at 5-5.

Ahmad Merritt, a junior center fielder, drove in a run with a fielder’s choice ground ball in the third inning for the Tigers. Bruins third baseman Steven Degree made a diving stop on the play, which could have resulted in a second GCDS run.

Brunswick took the lead for good, courtesy of a five-run third inning. Bartoszek singled, Montanez walked and Ostrowski hit a run-scoring single to left field, making it 6-5. Cook lined a base hit to left field, stretching the Bruins’ edge to 7-5. Perez then came on to relieve Rodgers on the mound for the visiting Tigers.

Bylow smashed an RBI double to right field, then junior catcher Andrew Gally brought home two more runs with a single, putting ‘Wick on top, 10-5, in the third inning.

The Tigers closed to within 10-7 with two runs in the fifth inning, keyed by an RBI single by sophomore catcher Maddox Monterisi. The hosts added three runs in the bottom half of the fifth inning, with Degree delivering a run-scoring double to left center field and senior Jack Nardis lining an RBI single up the middle.

Montanez sealed ‘Wick’s scoring by hitting a solo home run over the right field fence in the sixth inning.

“I’ve been sitting on a pitch all day, I felt good at the plate, I got it to 3-1 and it was exactly the pitch I was looking for. I got to drive it for the first one of the year,” Montanez said of his home run.

The Bruins received solid relief pitching from Jackson Cunningham, Nick Stern and Ostrowski, who pitched two innings to close out the game.

“We’re missing some guys from the bullpen and Julian Dyson being able to come in for us was amazing,” Montanez noted. “Runs are going to be scored, but we did a good job of backing him up.”

“We had a little bit of an error fest at Hopkins, but we got back on track and I think we’re stronger than ever right now,” Montanez added.

Said Cook: “We’re down a couple of arms right now, but we still have guys that can throw. We have full faith in our lineup.”

Greenwich Country Day came close to getting out of innings, but the Brunswick seemed to deliver the big hit when it counted most.

“Shutdown innings, it’s what we talked about postgame,” Colombo said. “Shutting the opposition down after you put up runs, particularly a crooked number. Those are important and those didn’t go our way today.”

Greenwich Country Day’s coach discussed the significance of the home-and-home series the FAA follows.

“The last couple of years in the FAA we’ve been playing series, it feels like baseball, it’s great, the home-and-home is great,” Colombo noted.

Brunswick visits Trinity-Pawling School on Saturday. GCDS is home against Greenwich High School Saturday at 1 p.m.

“We’ve been rolling, so we’re hoping to carry this into the rest of the week,” Redahan said.

Said Ostrowski of playing GCDS: “It’s always a rivalry game for us. It’s fun coming out here competing against them. They’re a strong team year after year.”

Here’s some more pictures from the Bruins-Tigers baseball game.