The Capital baseball team opened the 2026 season up north at Stanwood and fell to the Spartans 6-0 Friday night in a game that saw the Cougars collect more errors than hits.
Cougars starter Lane Nixon ran into trouble in the first inning, as an outfield error allowed the leadoff batter to reach second on a fly ball. After a groundout and a walk on four pitches to the next two batters, a ground ball by Stanwood’s Jaxson Beard allowed a runner to score.
Stanwood pitcher Oscar Cabe retired the first six Cougars he faced, and the Spartans offense gave him a bigger cushion in the second inning with another run off a Capital error. Capital’s first two batters of the third inning walked, but no one was able to advance to third as Peyton Camus was caught stealing third, Xavier Green struck out and Cash VanZandt flew out.
The Spartans strung together a two-out rally in the third inning, scoring their third run of the night off an RBI single by Dean Fagan. Capital’s first hit of the night came in the fourth inning on a Max Hanson single, and by the time the Cougars tallied their second hit in the top of the sixth, Stanwood had scored one more run in the fifth and led 4-0. The Spartans tacked on two more runs in the sixth.
“Overall, we felt like our team competed well today. We have a lot of new faces this year with only three varsity returners and a number of underclassmen in the lineup,” Capital head coach Brian Shannon said. “They did a good job limiting big innings defensively against a tough Stanwood team.”
Capital (0-1) will remain up north for the week, visiting Mount Vernon Saturday afternoon in a rapid turnaround to start the season.
“We have a good group of guys who are going to keep improving as the season goes on, and we’re excited to see their growth this year,” Shannon said.
