BERLIN – There are 12 seniors on the Berlin baseball team. Against RHAM Wednesday, only three of Berlin’s starters were underclassmen.

And all except one player were three-year starters, which is likely why the Redcoats are 8-0. That experience bailed them out after a rough sixth inning Wednesday when they gave up five runs to RHAM but ended up winning, 7-6, on senior Johnny O’Brien’s fielders’ choice in the bottom of the seventh at Sage Park.

The positive was that O’Brien came through in the top of the seventh, striking out the side, then hitting the game-winner, but long-time coach Leo Veleas, who has over 600 wins and close to 40 years of coaching experience, was more concerned that his team, which was winning comfortably, gave up a five-run lead in the top of the sixth inning.

“I tell them, ‘I’ll tell you when you did well, and I’m going to tell you when you didn’t,’” Veleas said. “(Wednesday), I was upset about that one inning. It was one inning. We could have lost.

“I get it. They’re kids. But except for the shortstop, everybody is a three-year starter. So I expect more. They’ve been through the system, they know what needs to be done; they know how to execute plays.”

Johnny O’Brien drives in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Berlin wins a wild one over RHAM 7-6 #ctbase pic.twitter.com/EXpvFXpvvY

— Lori Riley (@lrileysports) April 24, 2025

Berlin is currently ranked first in the Class L standings. The Redcoats had one other close game, beating Maloney 7-6 in eight innings. They beat Glastonbury 11-0 on Monday. Senior Jake Soellner, who started Wednesday, got the win Monday. In the second game of the season, he threw a no-hitter against Lewis Mills.

Berlin pitcher Jake Soellner throws Wednesday in a game against RHAM. (Photo by Lori Riley)

Wednesday, he gave up three hits and had six strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Gavin Gentile relieved him and pitched an inning before O’Brien came in with two runners on base and one out, with Berlin leading 6-1. When the dust settled, RHAM, which is 4-2 with its only other loss coming to Southington, had batted around and scored five runs.

“I feel like it’s important in situations like that to kind of get our bearings and realize we have to simplify the game a little more,” said Berlin senior Conlan Simard, who had two hits and scored the game-winning run in the seventh.

“I feel like we’re trying to make things too complicated and it’s starting to show at times. But we have a way of getting it together in any situation, we trust one another, and I think that’s why we were able to win today.”

O’Brien struck out Trent Gouchoe to end the inning then struck out three batters in the top of the seventh, all looking.

“The last inning, (O’Brien) was a little perturbed on the mound so he threw a little harder,” Veleas said. “From being a sophomore to now being a senior, he’s been in these situations before on the mound and in the field. Those are the guys you count on. That’s what we expect.”

O’Brien had two hits; so did senior Luke Wadstrup, who was leading the team with a .600 batting average before Wednesday. Wadstrup tripled in the first run for Berlin in the first inning. Senior Max Weber doubled in a run in the fifth and another senior, Zach Catalano, had two singles and drove in three runs.

“We’ve been playing with each other since Little League, since we were 12 years old, we’re all really good friends,” O’Brien said. “When you’re coming out here, you know they got your back.”