Oliver Henke might be Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School baseball’s crown jewel, but it took the full team to accomplish what the program never had before. 

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Named Dual County League MVP for the second straight year, Henke led the Falcons to their best season ever — a spot in the Division 1 semifinals — en route to recent All-Scholastic honors from both The Boston Globe and Boston Herald. But, he said, the success came from a true team effort. 

“In the last couple years of high school, I’ve maybe developed a little more, but to me, the core group of guys, the seniors, we’re all super good players and I don’t feel like I’m the best player,” he said. “I feel like we’re a very well-rounded group. We’ve been playing together for so many years and really trust each other.” 

In addition to Henke, boys’ volleyball standout Brennan Loud picked up All-Scholastic honors from both newspapers, and numerous other Falcons earned league all-star nods. Loud posted the DCL’s best hitting percentage to go with 241 kills. He was a two-time captain, helping the Falcons (12-10) to the No. 9 seed in the MIAA Division 1 tournament and holding home court in a Round of 32 win over Lowell Catholic. 

Henke led the Falcons (19-3) to the No. 8 seed in the MIAA Division 1 baseball tournament. CRLS upset top-seeded Boston College High in the Round of 8 to break through to the semifinals. They fell to No. 5 Catholic Memorial, the eventual state champion. Playing summer baseball right now for two teams, he just played a game at Catholic Memorial’s field, which caused him to reflect on the year.

“It was pretty surreal to be honest, because the first two years we made the playoffs because we had a .500 or better ranking, but our power ranking was really low,” Henke said. “Last year, we didn’t make the playoffs, 33rd in the power rankings and 9-11 which was brutal. This year, it all clicked and we didn’t make mistakes.” 

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An impact player at the plate and on the mound and three-year varsity starter, the left-handed batter and pitcher posted a .397 batting average with a 1.103 OPS and struck out 63 across 48 1/3 innings on the hill. Henke will continue his baseball career at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, about a 30-minute drive from Philadelphia. 

A member of the Centennial Conference, Swarthmore previously qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2022 and 2018. Henke, a high-honors student who took numerous AP classes, will continue his two-way play as a pitcher and in the outfield. He plans to study engineering, but isn’t 100% sure. 

“I’m very excited to be a part of that competitive environment,” said Henke, who played sub-varsity soccer and basketball, indoor track and club squash. “I was looking at a lot of small D3 schools, and that was one of the few schools who had an option with [engineering]. I really liked the coaches and the team and they really seemed to appreciate my attitude and abilities.” 

Full list of CRLS Dual-County League All-Stars

Baseball: Stef Alexandrov, Hugo Davis, Ollie Henke (MVP), Joel Rojas-Cruz, Tate Schoenau, Jasen Thomas, Buck Merrill (Coach of the Year)

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Softball: Marin Albrecht, Eleanor Holleran, Marianna Jimenez

Boys’ lacrosse: Ellis Anderson, Owen Goldstein 

Girls’ lacrosse: Emma Kass 

Boys’ tennis: Jeremy Nohrnberg

Girls’ tennis: Amelie Ramos 

Boys’ track & field: Jermaine Houston, Laurent Valentin 

Girls’ track & field: Naomi Baldwin, Sophia Juanes Seto 

Boys’ volleyball: Brennan Loud, Owen Murphy, Bruce Toledo

Commonwealth Rugby Conference

Boys’ rugby: Mathias Asnake, Kaelan Curran

Girls’ rugby: Louise DeGeorge, Lilico Pel