On Feb. 20 the CVHS baseball team played their first game of the season against Stephen F. Austin Senior High School. Their audience of family and friends cheered them on as the season kicked off.
The team played hard against the Austin Mustangs but the Mustangs took the win this time.
Despite the loss, the beginning of a new season is an exciting time that the team looks forward to. Having been practicing 3-4 days every week, the team has put immense effort into preparing for the season.
Typical practices consist of an hour and a half of warming up, and then stretching, long-toss, field work, and hitting. With the addition of new freshmen players, the CVHS baseball team is excited for the other upcoming games this season.
“Our team is very young, so there’s a lot of learning being experienced by everyone. We have a team full of potential, and if everything goes according to plan we should be a very competitive team that wins a lot of games,” said team captain and last season’s all-district offensive MVP Teddy Herce.
Now that the season has begun, CVHS junior Justin Leahy, having been on the team since his freshman year, shared his feelings and goals for the season after their unsuccessful game.
“Losing always stings, but we have a good shot at winning the next game against Austin, so we are not too worried,” said Leahy.
Junior Grant Go also shared the same optimistic view for the new season.
“I think the freshman class has a lot of players that could be useful in helping us win more games,” said Go.
Leahy relayed Go’s earlier excitement about incoming freshman players, while even highlighting some players in particular.
“Jack Herce and Maxwell Law look like solid freshman additions to the starting nine. They both have some great baseball IQ, and I hope to see them contribute to helping the team win,” said Leahy.
CVHS sophomore Jack Turner, who won 2nd team all-district Utility last season, also had some thoughts about the new season.
“Coming off of last season, in my opinion we had a great run, and looking at the team we have this year, I think we have a good chance of being even better. Looking forward to a great season,” said Turner.
Go shared similar thoughts on team progress, highlighting the team’s improvement in offense and how he hopes that will allow the team to win more than half of their games this school year.
When asked about the team dynamic, both Leahy and Go had a slew of positive words for the team’s relationship. Leahy named the team chemistry as the team’s biggest strength, and said that the team has an unselfish mentality that they work hard to build. Go said that the team’s chemistry is a great improvement this year compared to other years, which creates hope for this season.
Both players identified some issues in the teams performance, such as a lack of prepared mentality and distractedness during practices. Leahy mentioned the “Carnegie losing mentality” as a hurdle the team is hoping to overcome.
“Once we bring ourselves into a winning mentality, we can truly work better as a team to succeed as a whole,” Leahy said.
Lastly, the players were asked to share the biggest lessons they have learned from their three years in baseball. Go took a more objective approach, focusing on the team’s future.
“I learned that our players are going to need to improve quickly if we want to compete with the top teams in our district,” said Go.
In contrast, Leahy reflected on what baseball has taught him about success and how the sport has shaped his mindset for the future.
“Be ready to attack. Do not wait for success to come to you, go out there and get it for yourself,” said Leahy.
