The Fair Grove High School Baseball Team is nearing districts and has been playing and competing in preparation.
The boys baseball team has a record of 21 wins and 5 losses, as they approach districts. Player, Macklen Johnson (11), said, “It’s going well with us having a nice winning record and winning over 20 games this year already with other games to come, but it’s also not going well where there are games I think we could’ve won that would have changed our record too.”
The team has 24 players with eight of them being seniors. High school baseball coach, William Reed, said of them, “We have a talented group of players and have played a challenging schedule. I believe our record is a good reflection of the experience and talent that we have on the baseball team. We have a competitive group of guys that expect to win every game they play.”
As districts approached, Johnson said, “Our schedule being full of games prepared us very well for districts. I think we are all ready for districts. We all want it bad since our postseason ended too early last year and the year before, so we want this year to be different.”
The team went undefeated in Mid-Lakes Conference play this year. Reed said, “As a coach, you always worry if you’ve done enough to prepare your players for postseason baseball. I firmly believe in our guys and their potential to win districts. Our guys have won big games this year and will expect to keep that going next week in postseason play.”
Within any sport, challenges can arise. Johnson said, “I would say I have had some personal challenges. Over everyone’s time playing baseball, you’re going to struggle at some point. I feel like I have started struggling in the hitting area of baseball during the midst of our season and I’m trying to get out of this slump as quickly as possible.”
Challenges don’t just arise for players, but for coaches too. Reed said, “One of the biggest challenges I have faced as a coach is trying to ensure all of our players have a role on the team. We have an abundance of quality players that don’t always get to play in varsity games. I have needed to do a better job of keeping players engaged and feeling like they are part of the team.”
As the season comes to a close, many enjoyable memories are remembered by the team. Johnson said, “The most enjoyable part of baseball to me is just playing the sport. There is nothing I would rather do than play a baseball game, so just having the chance to go out and play almost everyday is a blessing.”
