Take a Swing

The JA's baseball boys' team has experienced a rollercoaster of ups and downs throughout the start of their season. They have had to compete in some very challenging games. Despite these hardships, the players are determined to remain committed to the team and positive during practices to ensure a successful finish to a great season. 

As a third-year player on the team, junior Wes Hampton, who is an outfielder and pitcher, has been able to participate in many bonding activities and experiences with his teammates. 

“My favorite part of practice is taking fly balls and then exiting the field at the end of practice,” comments Hampton. 

Along with Hampton, senior Cass Carpenter, who is a left fielder, also enjoys doing team bonding activities.

“I like going to the team dinners,” states Carpenter. 

Furthermore, the players have found that team bonding and building good relationships with coaches and teammates is a big part of having a successful and fun environment to play and practice in. 

“[My favorite part of the team is] getting to spend time with family [teammates] and friends,” states junior Christian Fiorenza. “I also love Coach Ferrero and Coach Stone.” 

Inevitably, with the fun parts of practice comes the difficult aspects. One of these difficult aspects is running poles, which the players must do regardless of their performance on the field. 

“Poles is where you have to run from one foul pole to the other foul pole, and then down and back only counts as one rep. And we have to do this whether we win or lose,” explains Carpenter. “I have done too many of them in my life.” 

In addition to very hard workouts, players like Fiorenza, who is a full-time pitcher for the team, also face challenges during games. Some of these challenges are playing against very skilled opponents and schools.

“Eaton and Holy Family high school are difficult to play against because they are insanely good,” said Fiorenza. 

While some of these challenges the team endures together, others are relevant only to certain situations and players. 

“Specific challenges I’d say I have sometimes are performing well under higher ranked teams, that we are quote unquote scared of,” comments Carpenter. 

Another bonus to the team is being able to travel. Some of the team's players recently went on a trip to Arizona for more team bonding and practice. 

“It was fun getting to room and hang out with teammates,” states sophomore and second base catcher Nate Ross. “We made some pretty fun but questionable decisions,” Hampton adds. 

Although the players haven’t had the most successful start to the season, they are determined to turn their luck around. 

“[To improve] we just practice and practice and do lots of base running along with poles,” comments Hampton. 

Furthermore, the baseball players hope that all of their hard work, both on and off of the field, will soon benefit them. 

“So far we have won one game, lost six games, and have one tie,” explains Hampton. “You could say we’re pretty good.”