The Atoms varsity boys baseball team has made it through half of their baseball season this spring. Though the win column looks different than it did last spring, with more wins last year, this season is quite similar. Last year the team had a rough start to the season, however they prevailed and won many of their games in the second half of the season advancing all the way to the first round of the regional bracket against Lake Braddock High School.
One thing this year’s team has as a major strength in is that the team has a great sense of connection and is a great community with all those on the team the team.
“I think we are all very comfortable with each other, we all have a good bond as a team and I think we can all benefit from each other,” junior and pitcher Noah Plank said.
One big issue that happens every year to both the baseball team and any other team at Annandale is at the end of the season when the team loses its senior athletes. With seven out of 13 players being seniors. When they graduate at the end of this season they will leave new open spaces on Varsity, this opens a lot of new opportunities to underclassmen and others who are interested in the sport.
“I believe we have a lot of up and coming freshmen and underclassmen, and I believe our seniors are cur- rently at their best and in their prime, and they’re able to kind of lead the team and take those underclassmen under their wing and help us achieve great runs and win games,” junior and catcher Colton D’Ambrogi said.
With the ris- ing interest in the sport and many new underclassmen the sports certainly improved their numbers greatly and increased the skill the athletes have as a team.
With this season only halfway through, there is still a chance at a winning closing season.
“Winning will come down to the amount of work we’re willing to put in,” Plank said. “I think if we put in the work we will definitely bounce back with a few wins.”
Last year’s three game win streak set a high bar, and this season’s veteran leaders are determined to reach it once again.
Through the first seven games of the season the Atoms are 1-6. Their only win coming from a dominant 12-1 victory over Lewis.
The rest of their games in that opening stretch have not gone to plan with the Atoms losing by a combined total of 49 runs. The whole team is aware of their position in the standings right now and the possibilities of having a poor post season following performances like these.
Senior Connor Delney is determined to do whatever it takes with the squad to ensure a good rest of the season:
“I think these first couple games don’t reflect who we really are as a team and we need to do better,” Delaney said. “There’s still a number of games ahead of us that we need to go show other teams who we really are and what we can do.”
The Atoms have 11 games remaining in the season, mainly against teams within the district they know they can play well against.
“These first few games really put into perspective what we need to work on going into the rest of the season,” Delaney said. “We have a lot of guys who are willing to do whatever it takes to get it done and that mindset is what’s going to help us in these upcoming games.”
The Atoms have upcoming home games on Friday against Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and next Thursday, the 23rd, against Immanuel Christian School.
The squad would love to have your support at these games, so go cheer on your Atoms!