The characters may change each year, but the script has remained the same: At the end of the season, Jackson-Reed High School and School Without Walls have been longtime rivals, battling it out for the baseball regular-season District of Columbia Interscholastic Athletic Association (DCIAA) title.
The two District of Columbia Public Schools, which have dominated the league over the past decade, met again, and as has been the case over the past 10 years, the Jackson-Reed Tigers prevailed over the School Without Walls Penguins to claim yet another regular-season title.
Early on, it was Jackson-Reed who dominated in the series, but this time it was much closer than it has been in recent meetings.
“They gave us all we could handle,” said Jackson-Reed head coach Mateo Robinson in his seventh year at the Northwest D.C. school.
School Without Walls (15-9 overall, 10-1 in the DCIAA) appeared to continue the trend of falling behind early when the Tigers (22-4 overall, 10-0 in the DCIAA) placed runners on second and third in the top of the first inning with no outs.
But Walls senior Charles Daggett settled down and pitched his way out of the jam by retiring the next three batters, two by strikeouts.
Daggett finished with one of his best performances of the season, scattering five hits and fanning seven Tiger batters in five innings in a losing effort.
The Penguins used it as a motivator, putting together a rally in the bottom of the second inning with a run-scoring single by senior Sean Aldridge.
The Tigers, who have won an unprecedented 32 league titles and came into the game riding an eight-game win streak, showed why they have built a strong reputation as a power in local baseball.
With the help of some timely hits and a couple of key errors by Walls, Jackson-Reed manufactured three runs in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead.
From there, Simon Corbin silenced the bats of School Without Walls, allowing no hits over the next three innings and striking out eight batters.
Designated hitter Owen Stone drove in two runs for the Tigers, who added two insurance runs in the top of the fifth.
“When Walls took the early lead, they had us off balance,” Robinson explained. “Their pitcher did an outstanding job, pitching out jams and not allowing us to take advantage of some opportunities. I told the players to settle down and get the ball on the ground, and it helped during that important third inning. Give them credit, they made it difficult.”
The Penguins put together a late rally in the bottom of the fifth, placing runners on first and second with one out, but the Tigers retired the next two batters to preserve their nine-game win streak.
The two teams could meet again in the DCIAA Tournament, which begins on May 5 and culminates in the championship game, which will be played on May 7 at Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy Park in Southeast D.C.
Kip Smith, in his ninth season as School Without Walls’ head coach, has turned the program into a yearly contender.
Despite the success of his team, he admits that the Tigers are a tough matchup because of their strong winning tradition.
“Over the years, we have had problems with them in falling behind early,” said Smith, who doubles as the school’s athletics director. “The gap is closing. The key for us is that we have to build on leads and not let up. They take advantage of mistakes, and we made a couple today that hurt us. We have to learn from this and prepare for the next time we play.”