Getting to the playoffs used to be an easy task. In 2005, the team finished the season 12-4 and made the third round of the playoffs. Last season, the Hitmen finished 10-6, second in the division.

This year, despite starting the season with four straight wins, the Hitmen were barely able to maintain their record of 10 straight postseason appearances. In their penultimate game of the regular season, the Hitman played in a must-win game in order to advance to the postseason. Against the Frederick Douglas Academy Lions on May 17, the game went down to the final inning, when the Lions came back from a five-run deficit.

Sophomore Nick Goldin pinch ran for senior Wes Gilbert in the bottom of the seventh inning and was in scoring position when junior Scott Ritter came up to bat. After Ritter hit a double into center field, Goldin scored the winning run. The 6-5 win enabled the team to finish with an even 8-8 and advance to the playoffs. Goldin said, “It was a pretty awesome moment, and the whole team came out to celebrate on the field.”

The moment would not last, however. The team faced the fourth-seeded John F. Kennedy Knights in the first plaoyff round Wednesday, May 23. The Knights started the game strong, scoring nine runs in the first inning. The Hitmen could not recover and eventually lost, 16-1.

Despite the first round exit, freshman Nicholas Gallo said, “Hopefully, during my next three seasons on the team, Stuyvesant can set the bar higher at the beginning of the season from playoff contender to championship contender.”