You’re standing on the sidelines of the field watching the baseball game. You hear a hit, not registering what’s happening right away. Soon enough, the crowd bursts into cheers. The batter has just hit a grand slam. Everyone is excited and waiting for the player to finish rounding their bases.
Opening Day was on Mar. 25, officially beginning the 2025 baseball season. The varsity baseball team was on track to set a school record of 14 consecutive wins. However, on May 10, they lost their first game since April, ending their 13-game win streak. A winning record means the team has won more games than they have lost or tied.
The Knights currently have 23 wins and 12 losses for the season, although one of the losses is currently in dispute. Their practice schedule helps them train to win more games and have more wins rather than losses..
The varsity baseball team practices five times a week from 3:30 to 5:45 p.m., except when they have a game.
“We go on infield, outfield work,” said senior Jaylin Wells, who plays first base. “And then the drills, just for each position, the pitchers normally work on finding those tracks in practice. Infielders work on ground balls every day, and the athletes work on fly balls and stuff like that.”
The practices are split up into two parts, indoor and outdoor. When the team practices inside, they focus on swings and hitting the balls. Outside, they work on some hits but mainly focus on fielding ground balls and throwing them from base to base.
Shortstop and backup third basemen, junior Connor Doren, prefers to practice outside.
“I think outside practice is a lot better because when we are focused, it’s more fun,” said Doren. “Inside we can get more swings, though, but we can still get a decent amount of swings on the field.”
Players across the field enjoy many things about baseball. An outfielder’s favorite part might be jumping high and catching fly balls. A baseman’s favorite part can be having terrific plays and striking people out.
Sophomore Boston Grueter, who is the team’s main catcher, has a few different favorite moments, including playing with his team and celebrating their wins.
“My favorite parts are spending time with the team and just celebrating, having good chemistry,” said Grueter.
In baseball, every position has different thoughts, which can contribute to the team’s chemistry and affect how they play as a whole.
Senior pitcher Isaac Scavarda has a different thought process than other players while on the field.
“[I think about] mainly throwing strikes and throwing out the hitters,” said Scavarda.
Every athlete has different strengths and weaknesses depending on what sport and position they play. Athletes who play multiple positions are called utility players. Doren is a good example of a utility player, as he’s played multiple games in different positions.
“I think I’m a pretty solid defender – I’m pretty versatile,” said Doren. “This year, I’ve started one game at second and then started the next game at third. I’m a pretty good hitter, too. I’ve been hitting leadoff all year. I’d say that my strengths are getting on base and fielding.”
Baseball is a difficult sport to play because it is hard to control your mental state, especially during important moments in a game.
“I like to take a lot of deep breaths and calm myself down,” Doren said. “Yesterday, we were playing PC [Portage Central]. It was very high pressure because we were out of our last pitcher, so our shortstop had to pitch, and he didn’t pitch a lot, and they were almost coming back,” Doren said.
Despite their change of plan, the Knights won 6-4 against Portage. For sports teams, the ability to work with team members can make or break a game or even a season. If everyone trusts their teammates to play well together, that momentum can carry over to the game, resulting in a winning culture. However, if the team isn’t playing well together, that won’t translate into good play on the field.
Wells has noticed how having a morale-boosting exercise right before a game can help everyone have confidence and work better together as a team.
“Normally, practice starts off with all of us,” Wells said. “We warm up as a team, and before practice, we get this thing called ‘ELE’. It’s ‘everyone loves everyone,’ and we all circle up and dap each other up, give each other handshakes.”
