THUNK! The sound of the ball hitting the catcher’s mitt as Centreville High School beats CHS 7-1 on May 10 in the first round of the district playoffs. Going 6-5 in the Concorde District, the team feels like last season built a good base for the upcoming season.
The loss at the hands of Centreville ended the season earlier than the team wanted. Junior left fielder Matthew Lynch hopes to win the rematch this upcoming season.
“That loss really hurt, especially after we beat them easily a week earlier,” Lynch said. “Their pitcher played really well and we struggled to hit off him.”
This year, CHS looks to capitalize on all the returning players from last year, including seniors, Nick and Alex Caywood, Ajay Parikh, Sean Kelly and Tanner Phillips who are all committed to play college baseball next year. The team’s season starts March 24 at home, with a game against Freedom High School starting at 6:30. CHS will have their rematch with Centreville about a month later on April 25. Over the offseason the team has been preparing for this by working on hitting against left-handed pitchers, due to the fact that Centreville’s ace is left-handed.
“It’s easy to work on it, because I’m a lefty and so is Coach Crozier,” senior captain and pitcher Luke Tilley said. “The team has been getting much better, we struggled hitting off all left-handed players last year.”
Lynch hopes to rely on the senior leadership this season, with 10 seniors coming back to play and 15 returning players on the team. Most teams have anywhere from 20 to 25 players on a team. They hope the leadership can guide them to a district title this year.
“I think we struggled last year, because we didn’t have much leadership in the locker room,” Lynch said. “It will be much better this year; the seniors have already been helping out and making sure the vibes are good.”
The team is confident heading into the upcoming season according to Lynch. Beyond winning the district, the team also aims to go as far as they can in the regional tournament.
“I think this year is our year,” junior pitcher Tanner Garey said. “With all the seniors returning and everyone getting better, I’m pretty confident going into this year. The workouts during the offseason have gone really well, and it seems like the team is feeling good.”
