With their new batting cages ready to go for this season that were approved last year, the baseball team has had more options for practice than they have in previous years. Each of the 16 players has to practice hard in order to make the team successful this season.

Between last year and this year, not much has changed in terms of players on the field. With the loss of only one senior from the previous year, a large majority of the team from last years returns for another season. The team also gained two freshmen players, Tristan Clean and Josh Yeck, to add to the overall roster.

“One thing we definitely need to work on is our teamwork because we have a lot of miscommunication on the field, which can result in misplays. We need to have some more positivity and pick people up when they make an error,” junior Jacob Bauman said.

One new addition for the baseball team this year is the purchase of a flagpole at the home field by the high school. The flagpole, purchased by the Baseball Boosters, is planned to be put in with cooperation with the school maintenance staff to be ready sometime during the season.

The Baseball Boosters also asked the school board to consider letting them add a sign to the high school that says that there is a baseball game happening that day in an effort to draw more spectators to the home games.

To start off their season, the baseball team hosted Carlynton on March 13 at Pullman Park in Butler as a scrimmage game. The whole game went back and forth between the two teams, with RBIs from junior Maxwell Ujhazy, senior David Jansen and sophomore Cole Beck. However, the game ended up resulting in a tie of 4-4.

The team also had another scrimmage against Fort Cherry on March 21 at Pullman Park. To start the game off strong, the Bulldogs scored a run from senior Zachary Rosa in the first inning with an RBI from senior Noah Henderson. The team would go on to score two more runs and shut out Fort Cherry 3-0 with the help of five different pitchers throughout the game.

On March 22, the baseball team was scheduled to start off their regular season with a game against Rochester at home. However, due to windy weather, cold temperatures and a forecast of snow, the game was postponed to a later date.

The players traveled on March 25 to their first away game at Riverside to take on the Panthers. While both teams fought hard to not give up any runs, the Panthers scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the third inning, resulting in a Bulldog loss of 1-0.

To continue with their season, the boys play against South Side on March 29, Western Beaver on April 1 and Beaver on April 3, all of which are home games. With the strong start in the pre-season, they strive to be section champions like two years ago.

“I think we can make playoffs this year and aim to be section champs like we were two years ago,” Bauman said.