By: Brooklyn Fernandez ’26
On April 17, your Derby High School Baseball team faced off against the town rival Ansonia. It was the Pink game for the schools, which is a game to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. The teams wore pink accessories; in particular, the Derby boys wore pink belts to show their support.
The game itself was nail-biting. Neither team would give up; it was competitive for every single inning, but Ansonia came out on top 5-2. I asked captains Jose Frias ‘26 and Isaac McNeill ‘26 some questions about the game. McNeill says, “I think the Pink Out game against Ansonia went great! Many people went to the game from both sides and were competitive for all seven innings. I believe we gave up a little early, but started battling when we scored our two runs. I feel we needed to stay more energetic throughout the entire game and have faith in one another. Being competitive is something I felt we did well, as well as fixing mental errors like striking out or dropping a ball, but still staying locked in is what we did extremely well.” Overall, he thought that they played a well-fought game against a really good team. Yes, they need to fix some things, like keeping up the energy through the entire team, but also staying locked in on the game the entire time after getting hot and not giving up.
Frias says, “It was a good game and went better than what I expected. Everyone thought it was going to be an easy win for Ansonia because they are the top three in the NVL, but the Red Raiders came to play and showed them who the real dogs are. I felt our hitting needed some work, like putting the ball in play more. I felt that our pitching and defense were amazing as we only had one error and held a top team in the NVL to only 5 runs.” Frias thinks it was a dogfight between two good baseball teams, but the Raiders need to work on their approach at the plate and keep up the solid defense they showed that game to be a great baseball team.
The Derby Red Raiders baseball team is locked in and ready to take on the rest of the season, hopeful of making the NVL tournament, but solidifying a good seed in the playoff bracket.
Then, on April 18, the Derby High School softball team competed against Ansonia for their pink game. Derby wore their pink jerseys and socks, while Ansonia wore pink socks and had pink lettering on their blue jerseys.
During the game, Brianna Fernandez ‘28 and Kiera Boyles ‘27 both collected two hits for the team. Even with Derby out-hitting Ansonia eight to six, Ansonia was the victor in a final score of 16-4. When I spoke with Fernandez after the game, she said, “Our team did great with hitting the ball, but needs to work on playing defense.” I also spoke with Senior Captain Breanna Perez ‘26, who said, “The game didn’t turn out as expected. I felt our defense was really good, but our energy as a team was low, so we need to get that up and cheer louder in the dugout.” Despite Derby softball’s loss, the team is focused on refining their defense and boosting their energy for the remainder of the season.
In the end, through fundraising and raffles, the teams met their goal of raising $3,000 to benefit Griffin Hospital’s breast cancer awareness. These funds will directly support the hospital’s breast cancer screening programs, research, and patient support. This successful pink day games event serves as a powerful reminder of what can be achieved when communities unite for a critical cause.
The Raider Press 