The swing of the bat. The clutch of the ball. The blow of the whistle. Through the wins and losses, baseball has a special place in the athletic department, and in the midst of the season, players and coaches look to the future with hope.
“We had a rough start to our district play,” Coach Michael Shott said. “We lost our first four to some of the tougher teams in our district, but we’ve won our last three district games, so we’re three and four. And I think that we have a shot at making playoffs if we can win the next five games, which I think that we have a really good chance of doing.”
Shott became a coach 10 years ago when he started teaching and Coach Sedeno asked if he wanted to help out with the team.
“Everyone at some point has to hang up their hat, in terms of playing, but as a coach, you still get to be around the game, and I think for a lot of people who played for as long as someone like me, it’s kind of hard to give that up,” Shott said. “So when you get a chance to still be around it, then we take that.”
When working with a high school age group, being “the voice of reason” with them when calming players down and encouraging them to play well is important.
“Dealing with teenagers can be rough, especially young people who are struggling to figure out how to do certain things and also understanding how to um take adversity and not be so hard on themselves,” Shott said. “It’s tough seeing them be so hard on themselves when they make mistakes and then it’s hard for them to get out of that place.”
Despite this, the coaches still find a way to overcome these challenges, playing a meaningful role in how the players perform and push themselves.
“The coaches definitely help us understand the game better, and they’ve been helping us play the game better,” senior Santiago Hernandez said.
Hernandez believes the team’s sense of community has improved this year, with the players wanting to achieve a common goal.
“The energy is always a lot better when there’s no yelling and toxicity in the dugout,” Hernandez said. “We’re just trying to win a ball game, trying to go out and win some games instead of it being individuality a couple of years ago.”
The growth as a player that baseball has given him throughout high school is what Hernandez is most proud of.
“I came in to play baseball with the intent that I’ll just go see if I make the team and go into the program for a couple of years,” Hernandez said. “I did develop pretty well, well enough to where I’m in the starting lineup.”
Being on the sidelines as a coach also provides valuable lessons.
“The one thing that I learned is how to give up control, because as a coach, you’re not playing,” Shott said. ”So therefore, you would have no real control over the outcome of a situation. So, understanding that I in no way could have affected or changed what happened with that particular play. So, it’s helped me learn that I’m not in control all the time with certain things. I can’t control outcomes, but I can control how I react to those outcomes, and then maybe affect how players then perform later on in the game.”
The baseball team still has a good part of the season left to look forward to, aiming to advance to the playoffs.
“We have seven more district games, I believe, and so the goal is to make playoffs,” Shott said. “We haven’t been in playoffs in a few years, so we’re not sure how far we would get in playoffs. But the goal for now is to at least just for this season to make playoffs and then go from there.”
While baseball has its difficulties, the sport presents the opportunity to embrace these challenges and demonstrate commitment.
“There’s a lot of ups and downs in the game, but you gotta overcome adversity,” Hernandez said. “No matter how far deep down you go, or how high you are, you always gotta just stay consistent and never give up.”
