The Varsity baseball team is off to a hot start thanks to the pitching performances by sophomores Jake Noviello and Matt Foley. These two, looking like seasoned varsity players in their first starts, have collectively let up 3 runs in the Panthers first two outings, ultimately propelling the Panthers to a 4-2 win against a high level Oliver Ames high school and a 14-1 win against Sharon high school.

Senior, Mike “Mariano Rivera” Skaza as well as sophomore Jason Ulrickson also proved to be promising as they were able to close each game and seal the wins for the Panthers.

In an interview with Mike, I asked him about his performance in OA; this is what he had to say:

“Over the offseason I worked with my pitching coach Tim Prunier who really helped me develop my cutter and curveball. Going into the 7th inning at OA I felt very confident and I can attribute my confidence to that man.”

At the plate, Varsity returners Jake Lyons (Jr),  and Josh Macchi (Jr) have contributed greatly to Panther victory,  tallying up many hits. Defensively, the Panthers have done a great job playing sound fundamental baseball, making minimal errors in the field. The infield and the outfield has looked stout throughout the first two games and hope to continue with the mentality that has led them to victory. To close the interview with Mike Skaza, I asked him what his outlook on the team was going forward.

“The best has yet to come. We are beginning to gel as a single Unit, and that is a very scary thought. Going forward we are going to need to compete, compete, compete,” the senior stated.

The Panthers hope to follow Skaza’s competitive mentality and continue to compete.