With a [5-1] record, the baseball team seeks to maintain the same energy for the rest of the season. Despite setbacks due to the weather, the players have put in various hours of practice to focus on their batting, running and catching skills. Although all aspects are essential, head coach Mike Campell believes confidence and a positive attitude are equally as important.

“I think they’re learning they’ve got to play hard all the time in order to get the wins,” Campbell said. “They have to be confident in themselves. The reality is, if they’re not self-motivating, they’re not going to be as good as they should be.”

With a total of 14 seniors, the upperclassmen have experienced various celebrations and hardships together, creating a strong bond between the players. Senior captain Dillon Flores continuously motivates the team to do its best so the players can reach their goal of reaching playoffs, which they have not gone to since 2017. 

“I’m ready to see how this group of guys play together,” Flores said. “We are senior-heavy and we’ve been preparing for this season for four years now. We have the same goal and want to return to playoffs.”

Upper and underclassmen alike are excited for upcoming games. They are going in with a positive attitude and enjoying the time they spend as a team on the field. The players’ main priority is to make it to playoffs and improve their skills and techniques from previous years.

“It’s my senior year, my last time to play with this team [and] I want to make the best of it,” senior Braylen Grandison said. “I’m very excited to get out there and play the game I love with the people I love. Although I plan to have fun, I still get nervous about messing up or making a mistake.”

As the players reflect on previous games, they work tirelessly to limit their mistakes on the field. The team hopes to improve overall but mainly wish to improve on their hitting skills and maintaining focus.

“Some of the guys can get off task and lose focus sometimes so it would really help if we can get everyone to have 100% focus during practice and during games,” Flores said. “With that being said, if we can carry the focus and hunger to get back to playoffs, I think we’ll have a successful year.”