Sporting a 15-5 record, including an 11-3 mark in the regular season against FAA opponents, Brunswick School’s varsity baseball team certainly produced a highly successful season.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, they finished just two wins shy of achieving their ultimate goal.

Brunswick, seeded second, was defeated by third-seeded Hopkins School in the semifinal-round of the FAA Tournament, 5-2, on May 12 – a game that saw the visiting Hilltoppers erase a 2-0 fifth inning deficit.

“Hats off to Hopkins, they’re a really good team, but always a fun opponent to play,” Brunswick coach Connor Redahan said. “They came ready to go and at the end of the day we just didn’t do enough to come away with a victory.”

Senior right-hander Teddy Bancroft pitched 4 2/3 innings, Jackson Cunningham threw 1/3 of an inning and junior righty Tyrus Ostrowski worked two innings for Bruins, who scored one run in the second and a run in the third.

Ostrowski, who started in center field, went 2 for 4 and junior catcher Andrew Gally hit a solo home run for Brunswick, which split its two regular season games with Hopkins. The Hilltoppers (10-4 in the FAA) earned the FAA semifinal win behind a four-run fifth inning and stellar pitching from Milin Patel, who threw four innings and Zion Robinson. Hopkins visited top-seeded Hamden Hall in the FAA Tournament final on May 15th.

“We’re a really good hitting team,” Redahan said following the semifinal-round loss. “Sometimes you put up 12, other times, you don’t get that one big hit to open things up. I’m extremely proud of this group, they worked extremely hard all year. It just didn’t go our way today.”

The Bruins, who lost to Rye Country Day School in the FAA semifinals in 2025, took a 1-0 lead on the Hilltoppers in the bottom of the second inning. Senior designated hitter Jack Nardis singled to left field and junior second baseman Owen Bartoszek hit a single past shortstop with one out. Junior shortstop/leadoff batter Jayden Montanez hit a sacrifice fly, putting Brunswick on top, 1-0. Ostrowski followed by lining a single to center field, but the Bruins settled for a run in the inning.

Gally gave the Bruins a 2-0 edge in the third inning, smashing a solo home run over the right field fence off Patel. Meanwhile, Bancroft shut out Hopkins over the first four innings, mixing his pitches well. Bancroft struck out six batters in four innings.

“Bancroft has been our anchor all year,” Redahan noted. “He’s been the guy that we can look to, to always go out and throw a good game and he did exactly that. He was cruising, throwing strikes, pounding the zone. He was throwing outs.”

The pivotal fifth inning sent Hopkins to victory and into the FAA final. Second baseman Sean Studley led off the fifth inning with a single to center field and advanced to third on a base hit by leadoff hitter/shortstop Rocco DeMaio. The Hilltoppers executed a double steal, with DeMaio stealing second and Studley scoring when the throw went through to second base, cutting ‘Wick’s lead to 2-1.

With one out, right fielder Tommy O’Connell delivered an RBI single, tying the score at 2-2. Robinson drove home a run with an RBI single, as did third baseman Justin Gnidula in the fifth inning for Hopkins, which was also aided by a Bruins error.

Designated hitter Charlie Rosenthal added an RBI single to left field in the sixth inning for the Hilltoppers, who finished the game with nine hits. The Bruins had six hits, with left fielder Nate Cook, right fielder Jack Bylow, Nardis and Bartoszek getting one hit apiece and Ostrowski producing a pair of singles.

Ostrowski registered three strikeouts in two innings of relief for the Bruins, who lost for just the second time in its final 15 games.

“They (Hopkins) just a couple of tweeners that went in between guys that made it hard on our defense and they ended up capitalizing,” Redahan said.

Though the loss was a tough one for the Bruins, they left the season with a lot to be proud of.

Brunswick finished in second place in the FAA during the regular season and after a 2-3 start to its season, enjoyed winning streaks of eight and five games to finish the spring season with an overall record of 15-5.

The defeat against Hopkins should provide fuel for Brunswick heading into next season.

“We have a lot of juniors they are ones that are going to have to drive the ship next year,” said Redahan, who also emphasized the teamwork this year’s squad exhibited.

“It was really a close-knit team all year,” he said. “Our captains did a fantastic job of making sure everyone was held accountable. It’s definitely the closest team as far as relationships go, that I’ve coached at Brunswick. I’m extremely proud of them, they played well all year.”