The JV baseball team competed in a three day tournament on Thursday, Friday and Saturday which consisted of four total games. They competed at Lions Club Park in Harker Heights, Texas. They lost their first game to Salado, but won the remaining three games against Temple High School, Harker Heights High School, and Waco High School.

“We fell short five to seven in a cold, hard fought game against Salado, but we pulled ourselves together and won the rest of our games the last two days of the tournament,” sophomore Elijah Stanley said. “We as a team can really get to work on our chemistry together, but that will come as the season goes on. One thing we really need to emphasize on is communication in the dugout, excitement and just pumping each other up. We really just want the people in the stands to see how good we all play together and really get them going and excited like we are.”

Freshman Avery Paul said the team has high expectations and push themselves everyday at practice to get better. They plan to win, as well enjoy the game, he said.

“Our goal for this season is to absolutely destroy other teams mentality, and really show them that we’re a good team,” junior Kian Kennedy said. “The future of this team holds to high expectations. We’re playing to win and have fun. Nothing else. We just need to work on our communication on the field to really push us to that next level of baseball. I see good things coming for this team.”

The JV baseball team also has trainers and managers who do more than give water, and help coach. They’re a part of the team just as much as the players, and they help encourage and get them ready for games as well.

“My main job as a manager is to keep stats on games, and make sure the boys have everything that they need in order to be prepared,” JV baseball manager Kaitlin Arnold said. “That means games, practices and tournaments. The boys played well this weekend but unfortunately lost the first game. However, they bounced back and won the rest of their games that tournament. I believe the boys will improve a lot. It’s only the beginning of the season and they’re doing great. Everyone on this team is like a family, and I love that they include me as part of it.”

JV is not only for sophomores and juniors. Freshmen can make the team as well, and they love playing with some of the older guys, freshmen Ashton Knowles said.

“It’s fun being on JV one, especially being my first year playing for the high school,” Knowles said. “I think we could all for sure play better, we just need to try harder. Patience is definitely a huge thing to work on for us. We had some great hits, but we really need to practice picking each other up. But I do believe we will only get better from here as the season goes on.”