[RV] Catholic

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3/8/2026 | Noon ET


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History

Bears split Opening Day doubleheader with Catholic

WASHINGTON, D.C.–

The Coast Guard Bears baseball program started their 2026 campaign off with a split vs the Catholic Cardinals by scores of 5-7 and 9-7. Catholic moves to 6-3 early in the year with the split.

Game One

Sophomore Connor Cilento started the season on a high note with a single on the first at bat of Coast Guard’s season. Two batters later, after stealing second, Nate Stafford drove him in with an RBI single. Catholic would get the run right back and then some with five consecutive hits to start the bottom of the inning, all of which came around to score to take a 5-1 lead into the 2nd.

In the 2nd, freshman shortstop Yadisson Karbalaieasghar(Coral Springs, FL) notched his first career hit in unconventional fashion when a bloop landed in no man’s land between first, second, and right and Yadisson was able to stretch it out into a double.

In the top of the 3rd, DH Max Van Auken(Franklinville, NJ) chipped away at the deficit with an RBI single to score Connor Cilento(Point Pleasant, NJ), who doubled earlier in the inning to start the year 2/2. The Cardinals however answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning to keep a four run lead. After Catholic scored one again in the fourth, the sophomore duo of Cilento and Van Auken struck for the second time when after Cilento led off the inning with a walk and stolen base, Van Auken again scored him with a single. 

In the 4th, senior reliever Conor Watts(Mahopac, NY) entered the game on the mound for the Bears. He stopped the bleeding in the 4th and then induced huge double plays in both the 5th and 6th. Watts kept the Bears in the game with a final line of 2.1 IP, 0 runs, allowing just one hit.

After the senior Watts, CGA turned to freshman Alexander Smith(Fairfield, OH). On the first pitch of his collegiate career, he had a comebacker hit right back at him. Smith made the play with a spin off the mound before retiring the next two batters in short order, ending the 7th with his first career strikeout before throwing a scoreless 8th as well.

Trailing by two in the 9th, junior Gus Barrido(Tampa, FL) put the tying run at the plate with a one walk. The tying run Kael Godshalk(Bangor, PA) then appeared to hit a double down the line but after a controversial foul call, Godshalk was forced to return to the batters box. He singled on the next pitch anyway, but a double play after would end the rally and game for the Bears by a final of 7-5. 

Game Two

In game two, the Bears started hot with an Ayden Gurevich(Lake Worth Beach, FL) two-run single to score Max Van Auken and Nate Stafford. As they did in the first game however, the Cardinals answered big in the bottom of the inning, this time with a three run first. After a scoreless 2nd, CGA tied it up at 3-3 in the 3rd on a Van Auken double to score Stafford.

The 4th inning saw big numbers for both teams at the dish. The Bears manufactured their runs with small ball. Yadisson Karbalaieasghar walked and advanced to second on a Luke Percifield fielder’s choice before scoring on a Cilento single. The single advanced Percifield to third which allowed him to score when Carson Cho(Haymarket, CA) did his job at the plate with an RBI groundout. Catholic in turn scored their runs in the 4th via the long ball, with a classic bloop, bloop, blast three run homer. 

In the 5th, the Bears again scratched and clawed their way to a run, this time with a Kael Godshalk walk as the catalyst. Godshalk advanced to 3rd on a single before scoring with two outs on a dropped third strike. The next inning, Coast Guard showed they could score with the long ball as well when Carson Cho sent a ball into the scoreboard over the fence in deep left center to take the lead back. Catholic answered back with a solo bomb of their own in the bottom of the frame to send the game to the 7th tied at 7-7.

After closing out the 6th, Jack Gausselin(Long Beach, IN) threw a scoreless seventh to give the Bears some momentum into the 8th. In the 8th, Cho and Cilento both reached base and both scored on a Nate Stafford(Jupiter, FL) double that beat the Cardinal right fielder down the line. In the bottom half, Bears closer Jackson Dorsey(Newark, DE) entered the game for a six out save and shut the door, inducing two weak groundouts before striking out the last batter to end the inning. In the 9th, Dorsey made certain the Cardinals had no chance at dramatics with a 1-2-3 inning, capped off with a backwards K to end the game and give the Bears their first victory of 2026.

Tomorrow at noon, Coast Guard and Catholic will play for the rubber match in the three game series.

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