Four years, practicing every day during the season and the offseason, dedicating countless hours in and out of practice, putting in extra work pushing weights and conditioning, all in the name of improving these senior players’ game. In each of those years, 30 games a season and four tournaments consisting of three games each, with games typically lasting 2 hours and 30 minutes. This adds up to 105 hours of potential game time played, which only paints a small picture of a fraction of the time these senior players have committed to baseball.
Lyndon Thomas (12) has been playing baseball since he could walk; from T-ball in his younger years to varsity baseball. Thomas pitches and also plays outfield and first base. Following his father’s passion for baseball, Thomas grew into the sport and found love for it, striving to emulate the level of his idol, Joe Kelly.
“When the season kicks in, [baseball]’s everything, really,” Thomas said. “I love baseball. I’m going to be sad to see it go.”
Torrin Thornton (12) has played baseball since he was eight years old. Starting in the Germantown baseball league, Thornton went to Overton High School and then transferred to White Station in 10th grade. Playing in those different environments helped Thornton develop into a much better player; learning how to play within a system and interact with diverse people. A passionate player, Thornton strives to lead the team to victory, leading the team in hits and hits batted in.
“Playing for White Station, it’s a very diverse group of people,” Thornton said. “We got all types of races. So yeah, it helped me deal with a bunch of different people. It also helped me to play the game how I wanted to play it … at Overton, I had a lot more freedom … but once you get [to White Station], you have to stick to a certain program, but now since I’m a senior, I kind of play for the team, but I [also] play to win.”
Thomas and Thornton are essential pieces of the team’s framework. As seniors, they are expected to step up and lead the team. Grabbing the role by the throat, both have done their duties by motivating the team through speeches, pushing team members to focus before games and facilitating the maintenance of the field.
“I love leading, and it’s gonna translate into really good things later down my life,” Thomas said. “I give a lot of talks, that’s one thing, I give a lot of little speeches that I think resonate with the team pretty well. Especially when I pitch, I try to shut down the other team and get us going in the dugout [with] constant talk, chirping, talking to your teammates up. We get onto each other about the right things. Like if someone doesn’t make a play, I’m going to get onto them.”
Coach Wade Walter has been a pivotal force in Thomas and Thornton’s development as leaders on and off the pitch, with one of the baseball program’s biggest mottos being “play with character.”
“Coach [Walter] is a really good friend of mine,” Thomas said. “I love him. He’s been great. He pushes everyone to be their best. Sometimes he has to tell us the stuff that we don’t want to hear, but it’s gotta be said, and he’s always just looking out [for us]. And trying to have us be at our best. He’s a great coach.”
However, the baseball season has been underperforming this year. With a losing record of 4-7, the team must work hard to reach their goals of making it to the district and regional tournaments. Though instilled with confidence in the strength of their squad, they feel that they can face the challenges that come with this.
“Our record, I feel like, definitely does not reflect the type of team that we are,” Ben Mendez (11) said. “We have a lot of really talented guys. I think this is one of the best teams we’ve had in a really long time. We’ve shown really promising glimpses of what we can be against some really good teams and I’m looking forward to seeing how that plays out. Honestly, I think that we could win the district and I think we have a shot at regionals.”
The technicality of baseball separates it from other sports, prompting another challenge for the team to face. It forces the team to constantly practice, refining their form.
“It requires a lot of athleticism, being so precise with your movements, and understanding what it is you have to do,” Mendez said. “And obviously having a baseball thrown at you 85 miles an hour isn’t easy to hit, you know, especially if you’re getting hit by the ball. It takes a lot of toughness.”
Whitehaven is the school’s foremost rival in the district. The teams are constantly going back and forth between victory and defeat, and these victories and defeats are often pivotal in their regional qualifications.
“We’re both in the same district,” Mendez said. “We’re both teams that I feel like play the type of baseball that a lot of the bigger schools don’t play. We both play gritty, we both play hard. My freshman year, we made it to the district championship. The series was tied 1 to 1, and the game had gotten rained out, And since they had a higher seed in the district, they got the title. And so that really, that kind of, that haunted us the year after. And this year, I’ve heard they’ve gotten better. So we’re really trying to work hard to make sure that we can bring it to them next time we play them.”
Facing the rest of the season, the baseball team hopes to face their opposition head-on.
“We’ve lost a lot of close games and we’ve lost games that we should have won against teams that we should have beat,” Thomas said. “So, I think our record doesn’t reflect anything on how we played and, and how we are talent-wise. And mentally, I think we’re stronger than ever, so I don’t think the record reflects a bit of what we could be or what we could do.
