The Hobart Statesmen opened the 2026 season with a doubleheader sweep of the Hanover Panthers at Armstrong-Shelley Stadium. The Statesmen won Game 1 going away, 11-3, and took Game 2, 5-3.
Hobart pounded out 16 hits across the two seven-inning games. Junior Sean Garvin had the hot bat, going 4-for-6 with a home run and three RBIs.
Game 1: Hobart 11, Hanover 3
The Statesmen used a decisive five-run third inning to set a course to victory in their season opener for the first time since 1995.
With the game tied at 1 in the third inning, Hobart capitalized on a Hanover error, seizing control with timely hitting. Junior Jack Byrnes reached on an error to start the inning. Senior Christian Petry singled and first-year Jack O’Neil walked to load the bases. Junior Connor O’Neil then delivered a two-run single to left. Senior Will Jones added a sacrifice fly, and first-year Quinn Dashefsky followed with a two-run single, extending the lead to 6-1 by the end of the inning.
Hobart kept up the pressure in the fifth inning, scoring four more runs. Connor O’Neil doubled and scored on a single by Connor Schmiedlin. Petry’s double plated two more runs, pushing Hobart’s lead to 10-2.
Senior Teck Nash delivered a strong performance on the mound, pitching five innings while allowing six hits and two unearned runs. He struck out four and did not issue a walk.
Game 2: Hobart 5, Hanover 3
The Statesmen pounced on the Panthers in the nightcap and held on for the two-run win. Hobart scored all five of its runs in the first two innings.
In the first, Petry drew a walk and Garvin smashed a towering home run to right field, giving Hobart an early 2-0 advantage.
The momentum carried into the second inning. Singles by Aidan Davenport and Cole Conte, followed by senior Isaiah Pinto’s walk, loaded the bases. Sophomore Jackson Rucker then delivered a double to left-center, driving in two runs. Garvin was hit by a pitch to force in another run, stretching Hobart’s lead to 5-0.
Hanover answered with two runs in the third and another in the fourth to trim the Statesmen’s lead to two.
Junior Charlie Forrest came on in relief to pitch 2 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out three to earn the win. Senior Max Friedlander struck out two and allowed no hits in the seventh to record the save.
