With the varsity baseball season almost over, the team is looking forward to playoffs and is ready to compete.

“We had a good year, we played a really tough non-district schedule and going into districts,” varsity baseball coach Jeremy O’Neill said. “We’re tied at first with Kingwood, we’re both 10-2 going into the last week so we have two tough games left this week. We’re 29-2 on the year so far. Right now we’re number 15 in the state, and we’ve already punched our ticket into the playoffs.”

O’Neill believes the team can make it far in the playoffs. but still has aspects of their game to improve on.

“To improve, we just continue getting better at what we’re doing,” O’Neill said. “Pitching, throwing strikes, getting ahead, as well as being aggressive on bases and getting better reads and things like that. More competitive at-bats are also important, we also need to get on base with no issue and not [give] easy outs overall.”

Along with O’Neill, the team is proud of how the team has done in the regular season and is looking forward to the playoffs. Senior pitcher Aidan Rucker has been out most of the season with an elbow injury, but is coming back in time for playoffs.

“I believe we’re ready, I think most guys have met their expectations this year,” Rucker said. “Coming back from this injury won’t be tough, I’ve been working and I think I’ll be ready to go when I get out there.”

In a similar situation, senior Jayden Hernandez has been out with a hand injury, but just like Rucker, Hernandez will be making his comeback just in time for the playoffs.

“This is my third year on varsity, so the thought process going into playoffs is the same as always,” Hernandez said. “Just stay with the team, stay on the grind and work hard.” 

Every year there are new boys joining the team. This year, one of the new guys joining is sophomore Jackson Wooten, who plays shortstop and third base. Wooten hopes to play a part in the playoffs this year.

“We have a strong lineup,” Wooten said. “I was a little nervous coming into varsity this year [be]cause it was my first time, but as the season went on, my teammates made it a lot easier. Hopefully when playoffs come around, I can add better defense and add some extra runs that will help us score, help us win games.”

Last year in the playoffs varsity made it to the third round, this year they hope to go above and beyond and go to state.

“The goal is to win every game, make it to state and win state,” Hernandez said. “I’ve been working to improve ever since injury, so I’m gonna just work on that more and improve every day.”