{"id":35759,"date":"2026-04-15T09:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/?p=35759"},"modified":"2026-04-15T09:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:28:17","slug":"patriots-in-good-early-form-for-lehrmans-47th-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/patriots-in-good-early-form-for-lehrmans-47th-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots in good early form for Lehrman’s 47th season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DEAN JACKSON<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WZBD.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FORT WAYNE \u2013 Early\u2011season baseball exposes nerves, timing, and truth. After 47 seasons, Heritage coach Dean Lehrman has seen enough Aprils to know exactly how\u00a0teams can struggle to get out of the chute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Game Two of the 2026 season showed a team already in control, as the Patriots handled New Haven 8\u20130 Tuesday at Parkview Field in the opening game of the PSM Baseball Classic. Lightning halted play after 5\u2153 innings, but the outcome was already decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMy fear was it’s just game two for us, and this was game eight for them,\u201d Lehrman said. \u201cThat’s a high mountain to climb. They are so well coached.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heritage climbed it anyway, controlling New Haven 8\u20130 Tuesday at Parkview Field in the opening game of the PSM Baseball Classic. Lightning halted play after 5\u2153 innings, but the outcome was already decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The matchup carried decades of familiarity. Lehrman and New Haven coach Dave Bischoff go back to their IPFW playing days, a rivalry built on fundamentals and mutual respect. \u201cDave gets more out of his kids year in and year out than any other six coaches combined,\u201d Lehrman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Proud to sponsor Heritage athletes and teams on WZBD.com!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Heritage (2\u20130) entered the night young\u2014just three seniors\u2014but unfazed by the venue, the opponent, or the weather rolling in. \u201cOur kids stepped up tonight,\u201d Lehrman said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t get nervous from the big venue or tough opponent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The night belonged to senior right\u2011hander Beau Stoppenhagen, who delivered exactly what Heritage needed on both sides of the ball. At the plate, Stoppenhagen went 2\u2011for\u20113 with 2 RBI, a double, and a triple, driving balls to both gaps and setting the tone from the leadoff spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the mound, Stoppenhagen was even better\u20145\u2153 innings, three hits, no runs, one walk, three strikeouts, and just 55 pitches. \u201cBo was likely the third or fourth option before this year, but now he is our top pitcher,\u201d Lehrman said. \u201cHis control, pace, and efficiency stopped the Bulldogs from getting into a rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heritage\u2019s lineup supported him with 10 hits in 25 at\u2011bats, producing 8 RBI and pressure from every position. Iestyn Roe opened the scoring with a 1\u2011for\u20113 night and an RBI single. Max Mirelez went 2\u2011for\u20113 and launched a two\u2011run triple into right. Elijah Rauner added a run\u2011scoring single. Jaxon Feasby delivered a two\u2011RBI shot down the right\u2011field line. Brady Boyle added two hits, and Kingston Galentine reached twice and scored twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Proud to sponsor Heritage Athletics on WZBD.com!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMax Mirelez really crushed the ball tonight,\u201d Lehrman said. The bottom of the order sealed the win with Feasby\u2019s two\u2011out, two\u2011RBI hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Heritage backed its pitching with clean defense. \u201cWe played good defense,\u201d Lehrman said. \u201cOnly one error, and that was a base\u2011hit advancement on a throw we probably should have never thrown.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Patriots return to action Wednesday, facing North Side (0\u20133) at Carrington Field as their early\u2011season identity continues to take shape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DEAN JACKSON WZBD.com FORT WAYNE \u2013 Early\u2011season baseball exposes nerves, timing, and truth. After 47 seasons, Heritage coach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35763,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[44,15,51,26],"class_list":["post-35759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-baseball","tag-featured","tag-heritage","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wzbd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/123_1-4.jpeg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35759"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35759\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35766,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35759\/revisions\/35766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wzbd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}