About halfway through the season, the baseball team has been performing beyond its standards. With a record above .500 and currently in 4th place in the PIL, the team has a real shot at making the OSAA state playoffs this year. Junior infielder Riley Flynn elaborated on the team’s goals for this season.
“The main goal this year is to make the playoffs. We want to make it really bad, so we’ll be working to accomplish that goal,” Flynn said.
During the offseason, the team worked tirelessly since September in the weight room and the fieldhouse, specifically working on the offensive side of the ball and improving their hitting power.
The team has also made massive improvements from last year, already winning more total games this year than they did the entire season last year.
“This season, I want to prove the rest of the league wrong and show how much the team has grown as a whole,” junior Oscar Smalley said.
The team is committed to showing the rest of the PIL how much they’ve improved. Junior Emmett Letson also had something to say about the team’s goals this season.
“A goal for this year is to prove that this isn’t the same McDaniel that people know of,” Letson said.
This year, the team has a few matchups in the league that need to be won for them to have a chance at punching a ticket to the state playoffs, with those matchups being the current number one seed, Grant, and the number three seed, Ida B. Wells.
“Wells and Grant have been good in the past, but were better than last year, so we’re gonna out and compete with them,” said Smalley
A unique aspect of the team is that the majority of the team is made up of seniors with a lot of experience. The team is looking to use that experience to their advantage while they still have them on the team.
“We are gonna try and use them to the best of our ability while we still have them, and as well learning from them using the seniors as a blueprint for years to come,” said Smalley.
With the team’s recent improvements, there have been some standout players leading the charge through the successful season they are having so far.
“A real standout player for me this year is Owen Sonne, he’s the captain, he leads the team, and he does everything the right way,” said Flynn.
Smalley also had a player he wanted to highlight.
“For me, I’d say Cody Brewer, he hits first, he’s a great center fielder, he’s always helping me and coaching me up,”
The baseball season is close to coming to an end. Come support them at their next home game versus Jefferson at 5 o’clock.
