Sports
Storming the Diamond Sammy Rosenthal|Sports Editor pl218212@ahschool.com
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fter the early stages of the Coronavirus cut their 10-0 2020 season short, the varsity baseball team plans to approach the upcoming
PITCHING HEAT: Senior Devin Futrell throws a powerful pitch against Vero Beach High School. Last season, the Patriots pitched a total of 79 strike outs. (Photo submitted by Devin Futrell)
campaign with a chip on their shoulder, prepared to avenge their unfinished business from a year ago. “Unfortunately, with Covid ending our season last year, the class of 2020 didn’t get a chance to get a ring,” senior LHP and Vanderbilt commit Devin Futrell said. “This year, my team and I are going to win a state championship for them. We lost a lot of key roles in our lineup, but the plan is to just take one day at a time and to focus on the state title.” Though the team had some notable pieces graduate, such as Enrique Bradfield and Jordan Carrion, the Florida Prep Baseball Report still has the Patriots ranked fourth overall heading into the year, citing the team’s pitching rotation as the main separator from the competition. “Since we don’t have the powerhouse we had last year,” senior 3B/RHP and FIU commit Juhlien Gonzalez said, “we are going to have to grind every game in and out. We, as a team, have a good chance at winning state this year. With the pitching staff that we have this year, we will be a very hard team to beat.”
The pitching core also features senior Kansas State commit, Justin Webster, junior Vanderbuilt commit Brandon Barriera and junior Virginia commit Evan Dobias. Behind the talented group, the Patriots expect to stay in contention for the state banner, but, as the team experienced a year prior, not without the challenges COVID-19 continues to present. “This pandemic has made everything in life a lot harder, but not much has slowed us down as a team,” Gonzalez said. “We get our work in every day, and that has never changed. We have stayed on top of this pandemic as much as possible as a team.” While a slightly different group may take the field under head coach Bruce Aven, the championship aspirations from a season ago have yet to fade as the Patriots set their sights on making up for lost time. “We [have lost] the majority of our starters, so the key to winning a state title is going to be playing small ball and building new chemistry,” Futrell said. “If we play as a team and pick each other up when [we’re] down, we are the most dominant team in the country, and I have no doubt about it.”
Serving up Aces and Winners Sammy Rosenthal|Sports editor pl218212@ahschool.com
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eading into the new season, the boys and girls varsity tennis teams hope to pick up right where they left off last year. “I plan to build on the chemistry we established last year through bus rides and team accomplishments,” senior Elliot Starkman said. “We have a lot of new players on the team, so it is important for them to be involved and to support their teammates.” While the distanced nature of tennis might limit the effects of the coronavirus on games themselves, the pandemic has influenced how much preparation for the season the Patriots have experienced. (Design/Joseph Richards) Issue 3
“Due to the pandemic, the team hasn’t been able to meet as much as we would like,” sophomore Natalie Block said. “Normally we host tryouts where we can all gather and discuss the upcoming season, but this year we had to improvise. We coordinated individual challenge matches through a group chat, and the girls reported the results to Coach Toby.” As the two teams move further into the year, both understand that staying together and remaining consistent will prove crucial to walking away with a state championship. “We have a lot of talent,” head coach Toby Croke said. “I think we have a team full of people that take their craft seriously. I think the appropriate word for this team is challenge. The challenge is to figure out the identity of the team and what doubles teams will work out the best.”
ACES ON DECK: Sophomore Natalie Block serves to start a point at the Orange Bowl International Cup. The Orange Bowl is a prestigious tournament that many current professionals had played at some point in their youth. (Photo submitted by Natalie Block)
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