The boys baseball team has had a fairly successful season that came to an unfortunate end on Apr. 27, after a 9-3 loss in the District semifinals against Cardinal Newman High School. 

There were high hopes among the players for a better run at the title, but the team still endured a winning record, with 14 wins and 12 losses. Junior Jake Haggard, a team member since his freshmen year, talked about what the regular season looked like for the Bucs.

“We started off shakey at the begging of the year. We lost some games that we shouldn’t have, but then in the back half of our season we won against some big schools like Park Vista, Wellington, Dwyer, and Kings Academy,” Haggard said. “Going into the playoff season we were swinging the bats well and playing our game.”

Haggard further described the district semifinal game and his thoughts on what went right and what went wrong.

“During our district game, we came out with a lot of energy, scoring three runs in the first inning. When Newman was up to hit, they scored two runs in that same inning, so the rest of the game was really close up until the fourth inning,” he said. “Newman was able to get some hits off Freddy and take the momentum from us, and then they were able to capitalize the game and win.”

Although the team’s season came to an abrupt end, it still meant a lot to the seniors whose junior season got cut short last year. Senior Cade Odom, who has dedicated most of his life to the game, talks about his experience on the team and what baseball means to him. 

“This was honestly one of my favorite teams to play for all of high school,” Odom said. “The guys all had a great connection with one another and it’s sad that we couldn’t make a deeper playoff run.”

Senior Cole Jernstedt was eager to share his experience this season, splitting his time between both the baseball and tennis teams. 

“I’m so glad I was able to play for both teams because I would have hated to miss out on my senior season,” he said. “The atmosphere of the team is so supportive and we all want to get better for the sake of the team. It was a great way to end my high school baseball career.”

Gian Abbonizio, Vance Hendryx, Billy Moscatello, Tommy Rooney, and Cam Williams all graduated last year, leaving the team with big shoes to fill. Despite the loss of key players in last year’s graduating class and a district semifinal loss, the team’s depth came together and managed a winning record.