By Cory Sparks, Sports Editor
America’s pastime is beyond enjoyable this year for those watching the Indian Trail High School & Academy’s Hawks baseball team. This band of players possesses a 9-7 record (7-4 in conference) and has been flirting with the top 10 spot in the state throughout the duration of the season.
The majority of this team is comprised of young, diligent players who make up for lack of veteran presence with their commitment to bettering themselves as players.
“We have a lot of talented guys who all worked all offseason together. We continue working every day at practice to help prepare us for games,” said Kyle Lange, General Studies junior.
This admirable record and overall strong performance is backed by a strong effort by the team’s defense. Excelling in the category of run prevention has been an emphasis throughout the boy’s season.
“We are limiting the opponent offensively and giving our offense a chance to win games,” said Michael Schmidt, Indian Trail’s baseball coach. “I believe the pitchers pitch with confidence because they know the defense behind them will make the plays more times than not.”
This feat stands tall seeing that the Hawks are outscoring their opponent by nearly two runs per game, allowing an average of 5.0 runs per seven innings.
The versatility at the pitching position has much to do with this sustained success on the defensive end for this squad, with a large number of the boys on the rubber having ace-like performances on the mound.
“We have about 10 pitchers that we have confidence in getting the job done if the ball is handed to them,” said Schmidt. “Early in the season so far our pitching has been the MVP.”
Though young, this group of guys in particular has had more time than usual to create a strong bond with one another. Due to the no offseason mentality of many of these players, they’ve developed many close relationships during the colder months.
“The team chemistry is very good because a lot of the team participated in the winter workouts before the season even started and we got to know each other before,” said Scotty Starovich, Communications Academy senior.
This tightly-bonded team has achieved far beyond what would be expected out of a bunch as young as they are. However, the Hawks are not satisfied in the slightest with just an astounding regular season performance. The postseason is where these ballplayers have their aspirations set.
“Our goal every year is to win a state championship, but in order to accomplish that there are goals that we try and achieve throughout the season,” said Schmidt. “We strive to win our conference and earn the best possible seeding for the playoffs to earn home field and better matchups.”
Schmidt also expands on the fact that given their talent, and if this team can consistently put up five or six runs every single game, they can hang with anybody out there throughout the baseball season.
“The team is very close on and off the field. We’re all friends and get along well with each other,” said Lange. “We believe if we continue to work hard and put the pieces together, we can make a lot of big things happen and go far. We pick each other up and are very tight and have fun playing with each other.”