New Year, Better Year For Boys Varsity Baseball

The Varsity baseball team is training intensely for this season -- Gabriela Grant

The RHS varsity baseball team had a win, loss, tie of 3-2-0, and their overall standing was 11-7. The Rams ranked fifth out of twelve Montgomery County 3A/2A varsity baseball high school teams in the 2009-2010 season.

“Expectations are hard to match, especially depending on their last year stats, some of these guys had career years,” said boys varsity baseball coach Farron Riggs. Last year, the division’s batting leader was sophomore Sean Van Geison with .596. Players like Sean Mobley, with his fielding percentage being 1.000 or perfect, helped the team throughout the season.

Coach Riggs has been coaching at RHS for nearly fifteen years, and has played baseball all his life. “Baseball is a release for kids’ in sports you learn a lot about life, how to react to adversity,” said Riggs. He also added that baseball or any other sport is necessary for a child’s development.

Many of last year’s junior varsity players, including Marcus Hailstock among many other students, expect to make varsity this year with near perfect stats. “Come ready to go, ready to work,” said coach Riggs on behalf of the training and tryouts that will be held on March 1.

This year the team has three consistent senior players that will be counted on very heavily: Chris Brown, Sean Whalen and Sean Mobley. The group of juniors that have gained experience since they were freshmen will also be counted on heavily. Also the new-coming or upcoming sophomore and freshman players expect to provide much-needed help to their upperclassmen teammates.

If the players develop a certain level of consistency, many coaches and other players believe that this will be a successful year and be able to surpass last year’s expectations and stats. “I predict we will have a great yeara�� we hope to improve each year more with the same group of player,” said coach Riggs.

“This year they have prepared more than any other. We now go to Champion Fields and workout,” said Hailstock. In baseball, wins and losses are not assumed and cannot be assumed; every game has to be played as if it is the last.