NORTH STONINGTON — After producing one of the best baseball seasons in a generation in 2024, the Wheeler baseball team served up an impressive encore this past spring.

The Lions shook off heavy graduation losses from a 17-win team one year ago to post an overall record of 15-8, even one-upping that loaded team by winning the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division IV regular season title.
Wheeler finished 5-1 in Division IV — one year after finishing 4-2 in divisional play — with a pair of losses to eventual D-IV champ Lyman Memorial and ace pitcher Dominic Pontbriandt — who spent a post-grad year at IMG Academy in Florida and will be a freshman this fall at the University of Central Florida.
Wheeler defeated Lyman Memorial four times this season, including in the ECC Division II and Class S state tournaments.

“Wheeler baseball is in a good stretch now with 44 wins in the last three seasons,” coach Eric Collins said. “We lost an All-State player in Kyle Kessler and two ace pitchers, Sean Bergel and Bradin Anderson (Rhode Island College), but we had two No. 1 pitchers coming back.
“We had quality wins over Stonington, Ledyard and Haddam-Killingworth. Wheeler baseball has to be a respected opponent.”

Seniors James Main and Garrett Lenihan formed a two-headed ace pitching combination to spearhead Wheeler placing an impressive six players on the ECC Division IV first team.
Joining Main and Lenihan were catcher Morgan Perkins, infielders Luke Dowry, Noah Klewin and pitcher-infielder Korbin Anderson.

Main was a terror on the mound and at the plate. Pitching-wise, he struck out 74 batters in 41 innings, including a one-hit, 17-strikeout effort against Plainfield.
Main was not on the mound for most of April with a shoulder injury but the outfielder was sizzling at the plate all season long, batting .525 with 20 RBI and nine extra base hits (4 doubles, two triples and three homers). He collected his 100th career hit as well.

“James was our MVP,” Collins said. “He was electric on the mound and hit over .500. It was a shame and a disservice to him that he wasn’t voted in to be All-State.”

Lenihan repeated as an ECC D4 first tearmer. He played shortstop when not on the mound while hitting .370 with 20 runs scored. As a pitcher, he struck out 75 in 43 innings and allowed less than one base-runner per inning. He no-hit Windham with 13 strikeouts.

“Garret came on strong with the bat and was consistent as a shortstop and pitcher,” Collins said. “He had a very solid career.”

Solid is the appropriate word for Perkins as his catching and batting (.421, 21 RBI) was stellar.

“His leadership was invaluable,” Collins said. “He’s almost like a coach on the field.”

Anderson, a junior, shuttled between second base, shortstop and pitcher, earning ECC DIV first-team utility honors.

“Korbin played all three positions well and did a nice job as our leadoff batter,” Collins said. “He’ll be a leader for us next season.”

Klewin, a senior first baseman, and Dowry, a sophomore third baseman, rounded out Wheeler’s six first-teamers. Both batted in the mid .300s, helping give the Lions’ lineup depth. Klewin was also named Wheeler’s ECC Scholar Athlete.

“Nick got a lot of clutch hits for us,” Collins said. “Defensively, he bailed out a lot of infielders and saved them errors by digging out errant throws. Luke was very consistent at third base and performed a little bit better than expected.”