Baseball Game Preview: Taft School Big Red vs. Loomis Chaffee School Pelicans

The Taft School Big Red will venture away from home to square off against the Loomis Chaffee School Pelicans at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday. Taft School is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 8.7 runs per game this season.

If Taft School beats Loomis Chaffee School with 12 runs on Wednesday, it's going to be the team's new lucky number: they've won their past two matches with that exact score. The Big Red beat Kent School on Monday by the very same score they won with in their prior game: 12-2. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Big Red.

Evan Douglas tossed a big game, striking out eight batters over five innings while giving up just two earned runs off two hits (and only one walk).

Cayden Van Dolah

Runs

04/14/25 vs Kent School	4
04/05/25 vs St. Luke's	2
04/02/25 @ Westminster School	2
04/09/25 vs Choate Rosemary Hall School	1
03/29/25 vs Kingswood Oxford	1

On the hitting side, Cayden Van Dolah and Owen Palmer did most of the damage at the plate: Van Dolah scored four runs and stole three bases while going 2-for-3, while Palmer went 2-for-3 with two triples, three runs, and one RBI. Van Dolah has become a key player for Taft School: the team is undefeated when he posts at least two runs, but 1-2 otherwise. Parker Woods was another key player, scoring a run while going 1-for-1.

Taft School was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .524. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .304 or higher in five consecutive games.

Meanwhile, Loomis Chaffee School faced Avon Old Farms in a battle between two of the state's top teams on Monday. The Pelicans fell just short of the Beavers by a score of 4-3. That's two games in a row now that the Pelicans have lost by just one run.

Taft School's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 4-2. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.3 runs on average over those games. As for Loomis Chaffee School, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 4-4.

Taft School couldn't quite finish off Loomis Chaffee School in their previous meeting back in May of 2024 and fell 7-5. Can the Big Red avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.