05/12/06 - San Marcos Academy

May 12, 2006 The Laurel Page 17
Baseball ends tough year
By Raji Gullapalli
Despite having a district baseball season with only one win,
Coach Jason Campbell said he is still enthusiastic for his team.
“We lost by only 1 run against Brentwood and St. Gerard,
and now our guys realize how just one error can cause a loss,”
Coach Campbell said.
Coach Campbell said the Bears put it together late in the
season and threatened the first and second place teams until late
in the ball games. In the beginning the team had issues with confidence,
focus, hitting, and fielding well. As the year progressed,
the game got easier for them. Those who were not making contact
with the ball finally started getting hits. Players who could not
catch a beach ball were catching fly balls. Later, Coach Campbell
added, the team started to look like the baseball team they aimed
to be in the beginning of the season. Confidence was directly
proportional to how well the team played.
Several players earned special recognition, Coach Campbell
said. Matt Verity led in batting with an average of .391, while
Tommy James led in total hits. Matt had 12 stolen bases, while
Tommy had 8 stolen bases. Maverick Jennings also had a batting
average over .300 with .315.
Three players received all-district honors: Honorable mention
Richard Toedt, second team Matt Verity, and first team Tommy
James.
“This year was crazy, and we didn’t do so well, but we will do
better next year,” Blake McClendon said. Mike Quinn added,
“The season was really fun and the team became close friends.”
Finally, Tommy James said, “A lot of talent did not come together
and as a result, it was a rough season.”
Pitch it, Brittney!
In one of the girs’ last softball
games, Brittney Sowell shows her
skill as a pitcher. Pitching doesn’t
come naturally for Brittney, but
she started playing that position
when she was nine years old.
“One day at softball practice we
were just having fun pretending
to pitch and then my coaches saw
me pitch,” Brittney said. “I guess
I had what it took. Because I am
not a natural pitcher I have to
practice a lot. My dad has really
helped me through out the years.”
This year’s softball team was
very young just like the others
in the past. This was the first
year playing softball for many of
the girls. “Even though we did
not have as a good as season as
we all hoped for, we had a lot
of fun along the way,” Brittney
said. “It doesn’t matter if you
win or lose. All that matters is
if you had fun playing the sport
in the end.
Juniors, freshmen win at Powder Puff
(Above left) Morgan Martin,
Chelsea Martin, Jackie Monical,
Olivia Garza, and Hailey
Tuck show their winning
strength at the Powder Puff
game. (Below left) Dusty Hester
intercepts a ball from Nicole
Hoffman during practice.
Dusty was one of the coaches.
(Above) Hannah Hartman
gets ready to center the ball.
The Junior/Freshman team
won the game by three touchdowns,
with junior Olivia
Garza making all three. “It
was a really fun experience,”
Olivia said. “Without Brittney
as our quarterback, I wouldn’t
have been able to score. She
was great at throwing far.”
Starting his windup, Tommy James eyes the catcher’s mitt, where
he hopes to pitch a strike. Tommy was a First Team All-District
pick on the baseball team, which ended their season recently with
only one district win.