20 Wins for EA Baseball!
This wasn’t a mark that snuck up on anyone.
Episcopal Academy head baseball coach Tom Grandieri made it a point to mention to the 2026 edition of the Churchmen that it had the potential to do something that no other EA team had done in modern history. The Churchmen boasted a large and talented senior class and the pitching depth needed to make such an impact.
EA made history on May 15. Twenty-five players got in the game as the Churchmen rolled past The Hill School, 12-0. It marked a fitting end to the regular season and gave the team an accomplishment not achieved in recent times.
“It’s really cool, and the overarching thing about this team was our awesome senior class,” said Coach Grandieri, who earned his 100th career win as a coach this year. “I’ve been here for 11 years as a coach, eight as the head coach, and it’s one of the biggest senior classes we’ve had. A good amount of the guys were able to contribute as freshmen and sophomores. It’s awesome for them to have been the leaders of the team to get that 20th.”
Coach Grandieri is assisted by Taylor Wright ‘11, Mike McNulty ’09, and Ryan Oakes. The trio had all been a part of some lean years for the program, and their influence helped emphasize the rarity of this year’s accomplishments.
“They always go back to the kids to help them remember the past, and the kids get after it, and they see the results going from more losing to a lot more winning,” Coach Grandieri said. “It was nice that we had the opportunity to play 29 games and come out on top in 20 of them. Everybody, program-wide, played a role in it. It’s really fulfilling because of the work that we pour in.”
Senior pitcher Roman Notaro, a Catholic University commit, has had a perfect perspective of the EA baseball program’s rise. Part of that loaded group of seniors, Notaro went 3-0 as a reliever this year with a sparkling 1.50 earned run average and 18 strikeouts. He likely would have received All-Inter-Ac honors had he not suffered an ulnar collateral ligament injury in his throwing elbow. He knows how hard it is to get 20 wins, and he’s particularly proud of how the team got there.
“I think it’s really awesome, especially with the way that we came up through the program,” Roman said. “Our freshman year, we started with a lot of expectations. Our sophomore year, we had a down season, and then we found our rhythm in the past two seasons. We just rode that from last year into this year, and there’s no better group of guys or coaching staff that we would have done it with.”
The Churchmen also tied another school record with a whopping six All-Inter-Ac selections. Junior pitcher and Duke University commit Hunter West, junior shortstop JD Amoroso, and senior outfielder Reggie King earned first-team nods. Senior infielder/outfielder and Franklin & Marshall University commit Spencer Schuh, sophomore first baseman and relief pitcher Baxter Schuh, and senior infielder/outfielder and Gardner-Webb commit Dillon Walls collected second-team honors.
JD Amoroso hit a sparkling .394 with an impressive 1.059 On-Base Plus Slugging mark to go with 24 runs scored and 20 stolen bases. Hunter West logged 35 innings on the mound, striking out 32 batters along the way to go with a 4-2 record and a .224 opponent batting average. He also reached the 100-career strikeout mark. Dillon Walls broke the school record with 33 stolen bases, part of a group that swiped 158 bags at a 91 percent success rate. Coach Grandieri credits volunteer assistant Chris Cowell, who played at the University of Richmond before playing professionally for the Colorado Rockies, as the driving force behind the stolen base thievery’s success.
Sophomore Michael Schaffer was a dynamic all-around presence. He tossed a perfect game as well as a pair of other complete-game shutouts. He struck out a whopping 40 batters in 38.1 innings pitched and limited opponents to a .171 batting average. Schaffer also hit .427 with a 1.149 OPS, 24 runs batted in, 23 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases. He led the team in hits with 32.
The team accomplished so much despite dealing with significant injuries to the lineup. Roman Notaro was not only impressed with his team’s on-field success but also its resilience and ability to remain composed throughout. “Our bond that grew before the season was really special, and we felt like this could be the year to do something special,” Roman reflected. “We started off hot, had our ebbs and flows, and recovered after our first down patch of the year. As a team, we knew that it would click, and it was more of a matter of when, not if.”
Twenty wins and a spot in the school history book, it’s safe to say that “when” certainly came.
By Matt Chandik, Photos by Maz Boyko '28