After a streaky season from the Green Hope varsity baseball team, they finished fifth in the conference with an overall record of 12 wins and 13 losses. With a conference record of 9-5, a great improvement from the previous season’s record of 5-9 was shown. The team finished 187 in North Carolina after falling short in the first round of playoffs against Pinecrest.
The team started their season with a win against Knightdale but struggled until after spring break. They went on a five-game losing streak due to their fielding and defense struggles leading to a 4-9 record in the first half. The athletes realized their weakness of infield defense and turned their season around by working hard on their pitching with new pitching coach Mitch Baddour. Many players expressed their appreciation with Coach Baddour who helped to lower the team ERA by over 1.5 points from 2023. With the improved pitching and fielding coming out of spring break, the Falcons won seven games in a row to put themselves in playoff position. Despite losses like Middle Creek because of fielding errors, the team closed the season with strong fielding, including a game with no errors in their home win over Panther Creek.
Overall, the season went pretty well for the Falcons, Senior Adam Safarikas saying, “We really came together as one team this year.” Safarikas said that his goal throughout his high school career was to make playoffs and this was finally achieved.
This wouldn’t have been possible if not for the hard work and dedication shown throughout this season by the team. Safarikas is appreciative and grateful that he made it to playoffs and hopes that in the future seasons, his underclassman teammates will be able to achieve more, going farther into playoffs.
The team made their way into the first round of playoffs where they put up a strong fight against Pinecrest but ultimately fell short, losing by a score of 5-0. Despite the loss, seniors Harrison Brewers and Adam Safarikas were grateful that they were able to participate in playoffs, even if it was only for one game. For the last four years, they had been working to make the playoffs and were able to accomplish it in their last year.
After a refreshing season, the team has accomplished and excelled better than in recent years. Brewers gives advice to the underclassmen on the team, “Continue to build off what we learned this year, especially in high-pressure situations, and get the reps you need.” Safarikas continues, “Become more mentally tough, continue to perform in tight situations, tight games and tight inning situations.” Safarikas is excited to see how the current sophomore varsity players step up to the plate and fill that upperclassman leader role in the years to come.
