The Season Ends with Highs and Lows for Baseball

By Abigail Bentz, Editor-in-Chief

The baseball team’s season comes to an end after a resilient effort to make postseason.

The team finished 8-11 and beat some of the leading teams in the district; however, losses early on will keep them from postseason. With numerous injuries limiting the success of the team in the beginning, the Warriors had to work even harder during the second half of their season. They recovered from their losses by taking games from district front runners.

The team will graduate five seniors from their 2015 roster. Photo courtesy of http://www.syc.k12.pa.us/
The team will graduate five seniors from their 2015 roster. Photo courtesy of http://www.syc.k12.pa.us/

Senior second baseman Aaron Portner describes the season as having ups and downs.

“The beginning was rough,” said Portner. “We lost to Suburban and Littlestown, which are ‘no-no’s,’ and they ended up costing us the district spot, but we beat the number one and number two team in the district, that’s West York and Northeastern. It was fun from there on.”

Warrior baseball has made it to districts the past two years. The expectations for the season may overshadow the successes that the players have had.

Senior left fielder Cody Dennis expresses how this year’s team still played with the relentless attitude of past seasons.

“We don’t have as much talent [as previous years], but we still have the determination that we did last year,” said Dennis.

The Warriors displayed their relentless attitudes when they creamed front-runner West York 10-1.

Portner describes the game as one of his favorite memories from this season.

Senior Aaron Portner poses with junior Connor Hood against the newly painted dugout. Photo courtesy of Connor Hood via Instagram.
Senior Aaron Portner poses with junior Connor Hood against the newly painted dugout. Photo courtesy of Connor Hood via Instagram.

“[My favorite memory] is probably beating West York because we all came in like we were going to lose by like ten or 15 in four innings, but we ended up beating them by like nine or ten. They were number one [in the district],” said Portner.

Head coach and video production teacher Tim Hare describes the game against West York as one of the season’s highlights.

“We pitched extremely well, played solid defense and scored runs when we needed to. So it was great to have the guys reach the level of play we are capable of playing,” said Hare. “Hopefully next year we’ll be able to play at that level more consistently.”

The five seniors on the team have formed a bond after numerous years of playing together. Baseball has allowed them to create memories and achieve goals with not only each other, but also members of the team outside of their class.

Junior short-stop Connor Hood has played varsity baseball with the five seniors for two years and will miss the group in the season to come.

Junior Connor Hood will miss the graduating seniors including first baseman Nathan Houser. Photo courtesy of Nathan Houser via Twitter.
Junior Connor Hood will miss the graduating seniors, including first baseman Nathan Houser. Photo courtesy of Nathan Houser via Twitter.

“I had a lot of fun with the team,” said Hood. “They’re my best buddies.”

Coach Hare considers the ability for the team to bond to be a huge strength throughout their season.

“A real strength this year was the overall team chemistry…The seniors (and Connor Hood too) did a great job of making everyone feel as though they were part of the team and were very supportive of the younger players. We told the seniors that that would be their legacy,” said Hare. “That while we didn’t make the district playoffs this year, they helped establish the foundation for future years by being so supportive of our younger players.”

With such a close-knit group, the team is able to walk away proud of defeating two of the best teams in the district.