Army Baseball Defeats Navy 4-3, Wins Star Series at Doubleday Field

Army's Trey Ates threw a career-high 7.2 innings against Navy at West Point's Doubleday Field on Sunday, anchoring a 4-3 Black Knights victory that secured the Star Series and gave Orange County's most prominent athletic program one of its most-watched wins of the spring.

The decisive contest was the final game of a three-game weekend set between the two service academies, and it nearly slipped away. Navy cut the Army lead to one run with a two-run home run in the eighth inning before reliever Josiah Overbeek and the West Point bullpen shut the door and preserved the result.

Army built its margin through timely hitting early, with an RBI double among the situational at-bats that produced the 4-3 final. Ates' extended outing proved critical: by retiring Navy deep into the game on his own, he kept high-leverage relievers available for short, decisive stints rather than burning them through multiple innings of long relief.

The Star Series carries particular weight in the Army-Navy rivalry. The two service academies compete across multiple sports each year, and the baseball Star award is one of the traditions both programs treat as a separate, high-stakes objective within the broader schedule. Sunday settled it cleanly in Army's favor.

For West Point and the surrounding communities, the victory carries significance well beyond the box score. The academy is among Orange County's largest employers and a civic anchor for Highland Falls and neighboring towns. Games against Navy reliably draw visitors who fill local restaurants and hotels across the game weekend, and a series win amplifies that attention as the Black Knights move into April conference play.

With Ates' career outing fresh on the mound staff's resume and the Star trophy secured, Army heads into the spring stretch with both momentum and a significant recruiting talking point.