Baseball Team Builds a Connection

Julia Strickland, Editor-In-Chief|November 16, 2022

The baseball team wrapped up their season in July. It was Coach Scot Surprenant’s first season and he was pleased with how it went. The teams’ performance against Johnston could not have better prepared them for the season.

“[Our best game was] when we played Johnston at home and gave them their first loss of the season. We had a great pitching performance by Matt Rivers and he also had a hit in the bottom of the 7th inning to walk off Johnston with a score of 2-1,” said Suprenant. 

“It set the tone for the rest of the year and proved to our guys that we could compete with anyone.”

Senior Jarrett Canida has always played baseball and was proud of how the season went for the team.

“We had a winning season of 22-19, which was one of our team goals that we were excited to achieve,” said Canida.

The baseball coaches plan out their practices for the upcoming season before it even begins. They have created a baseball curriculum that covers every situation that could happen. They choose a daily focus from that curriculum each day.

“A practice usually consists of warming up, playing catch, getting loose. Then we get ready for whatever we have on the agenda that day,” said Canida.

“We start out with mental training and then active warm-ups, then we split up the infielders and outfielders to work on their positions,” said Surprenant. “I hate standing around, so the more I can keep the schedule busy the less time practice takes.”

The team will prepare for next season by staying active and working to become stronger in the off-season. They will start preparing for the season in late winter with throwing for pitchers and catchers. Canida hopes to win a state championship next season.

“I think the biggest thing I like about baseball is the relationships that are built through coaching,” said Surprenant. “It’s the connection built along the way and when players return to visit or take some BP it is a high-light of my day! I also like the strategy of baseball and being successful in a game that is full of failure!”