HAMILTON – The Princeton Day School varsity baseball team is proving that youth doesn’t have to mean inexperience, especially when it comes to crunch time in the Colonial Valley Conference Tournament. On May 8, 2026, the 10th-seeded Panthers stunned the seventh-seeded Nottingham Northstars with a commanding 10-3 victory in the first round at the Galaxy in Hamilton, avenging a lopsided loss from earlier in the season and signaling just how much this young squad has grown in a matter of weeks.
Back on March 31, Nottingham had routed Princeton Day by 12 runs in just five innings. Fast-forward 39 days, and the Panthers looked like a completely different team. Head coach Eric Schnepf’s lineup boasts only one senior—Grayson McLaughlin—while the rest of the roster is made up of juniors, sophomores, and even a couple of freshmen. Seven sophomores started the year, and two freshmen made the varsity cut, making this group one of the youngest in the tournament. Yet, as the postseason heats up, they’re showing maturity beyond their years.
“We’re getting more comfortable playing varsity baseball,” sophomore second baseman Gavin Ross said after the win. “Since we’ve been winning, we’ve got more confidence now. The whole team is building.” That confidence was on full display as the Panthers notched their eighth win in the last ten games, evening their season record at 10-10 and earning a shot at second-seeded Allentown in the quarterfinals.
The hero of the day was sophomore pitcher Owen Ehrenkranz, who delivered a dazzling performance on the mound. Ehrenkranz struck out 11 batters over six innings, allowing just three hits and two walks, and retired 10 consecutive batters to open the game. He even helped his own cause at the plate, finishing 1-for-1 with an RBI. According to the official box score, he improved his record to 4-2 on the season. “They threw their best pitcher against us, so we had to come ready to play,” said Nottingham’s senior shortstop Ethan Miller, who is bound for St. Joseph’s University. “We came back, but then they answered the following inning. It was tough.”
The game started as a pitcher’s duel, with both teams scoreless through two innings. But in the third, Princeton Day’s bats came alive. The Panthers pushed across three runs to seize a 3-0 lead, with Ross and Carabelli helping set the table. Nottingham responded with a big fourth inning of their own—Miller delivered the Northstars’ biggest hit, a two-out double that plated two runs, and Austin Wright contributed as well, going 2-for-3 on the day. By the end of the fourth, the score was knotted at 3-3.
Momentum, however, swung back to the visitors in the top of the fifth. That’s when Nottingham’s pitchers, Austin Wright and Luca Gaglione, issued four consecutive walks with one out, putting Princeton Day in prime position to break the game open. McLaughlin, the team’s lone senior, capitalized with a run-scoring single to make it 5-3. With two outs and two strikes, Ross delivered the knockout blow—a double to the right-center gap that cleared the bases and sent the Panthers’ dugout into a frenzy. “Even though the game was tied, we believed we could beat them,” Ross said.
Freshman Dominic Carabelli, making his first start at shortstop and batting in the No. 2 hole, kept the rally going by slipping a single between the middle infielders to plate Ross. Carabelli was “really hyped” for the opportunity, admitting, “I got my first start at shortstop, and I was batting in the No. 2 hole. I wanted to turn that pressure into confidence. I did that by not being afraid to fail.” He finished a remarkable 4-for-5 with three RBIs, a run scored, and a stolen base, making an immediate impact in his postseason debut.
By the end of the fifth, Princeton Day had posted six runs to take a commanding 9-3 lead. They tacked on an insurance run in the seventh, bringing their final tally to 10 runs on 12 hits. Gavin Ross was a force at the top of the order, going 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, and three RBIs. “In the second half of the season, we’ve been building a lot of momentum,” Carabelli noted, echoing the sentiment that this youthful group is peaking at just the right time.
The Northstars attempted to mount a rally in the sixth, loading the bases with no outs against Ehrenkranz. But the sophomore ace showed poise well beyond his years, striking out the next two batters and inducing a grounder back to the mound to escape unscathed. Mason Roitburg, a junior, came in to pitch the seventh and promptly struck out the side, closing out the win in style and combining with Ehrenkranz for a total of 14 strikeouts on the day. Roitburg also picked up a pair of RBIs at the plate, rounding out a complete team performance.
Nottingham, now 8-11, saw flashes of their potential—especially from Ethan Miller, who led the offense with a 1-for-3 day, including that crucial double and two RBIs. But as Miller put it, “Our energy was up after we tied the game, then it fell apart again. That was sort of our theme.” The Northstars simply couldn’t keep pace with Princeton Day’s relentless attack, especially as the Panthers’ young core continued to deliver in key moments.
With the win, Princeton Day advances to face Allentown (13-7) in the tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 12, at Dan Venet Field. The Redbirds, for their part, outlasted 15th-seeded West Windsor-Plainsboro North, 2-1, setting up what promises to be an intriguing showdown between two programs with plenty of momentum.
For Princeton Day, the victory is more than just a step forward in the tournament—it’s a testament to how quickly a young team can mature when given the chance. With only one senior and a roster brimming with underclassmen, the Panthers are defying expectations and playing with the kind of confidence that suggests they’re not done yet. As the Colonial Valley Conference Tournament rolls on, all eyes will be on this energetic squad to see just how far their youthful exuberance can take them.
One thing’s for sure: the Princeton Day Panthers aren’t playing like underdogs anymore. With their blend of pitching, timely hitting, and a fearless approach, they’re making noise in the postseason—and they might just be getting started.