Varsity Baseball Looks to Bounce Back Following a Tough Playoff Loss

Gabe Reyes, Sports Managing Editor

This season for the boys varsity baseball has had its ups and downs so far; their longest winning streak was two games. With a young team full of six juniors, the boys look to do as well as last season.

Last year in the 2016 3A state regionals, the team lost to Huntingtown High School 1-0. This season’s team is much lighter on seniors then compared to last year’s team of 18 players with eight seniors, the past two seasons have been unstable with their 2015 record at 8-10 and last year’s record at 11-9.

The team’s current record is 5-5 with losses against Northwest 10-4, Seneca Valley 11-4, Whitman 5-2, Clarksburg 6-2 and Damascus 9-7. Their five wins came from Richard Montgomery HS, Wootton HS, Watkins Mill HS, Blake HS and Quince Orchard HS. In those games, the boys outscored their opponents with a total of 30-11.

Head coach of 17 years Farron Riggs said, “The biggest thing now is just making sure that we’re ready for the end of the season because that’s when it all counts.”

Senior center fielder Devin Monroe was on the team last year when the boys went to the state regionals, and he was a sophomore when the boys lost in the first round of playoffs to Damascus in 2015.

Monroe said, “Baseball season has been good so far, but there’s still a lot of work we need to put in to get back to the point where we finished last year.”

This year is sophomore catcher Colin Gabele’s first season on varsity.

“As an underclassmen on varsity, there is definitely pressure to succeed, but that pressure is shared throughout the team because we all want to succeed no matter the grade level,” Gabele said.

The final four remaining games are at home against Springbrook HS Saturday, April 29, at Churchill HS Monday, May 1, at home against Paint Branch HS Thursday, May 4 and at home against Quince Orchard HS Saturday May 6.

“With the season still being in it’s early stages, it’s hard to say,” Gabele said, “But I definitely think that there’s promise for a good season.”