On April 19, the Junior Varsity (JV) baseball team won against the Justice Wolves, with a final score of 15-3. Like any other game, the whole team practiced after school until the start of the game. Many players were thinking about the upcoming game after the varsity team’s loss.
“We were a bit nervous after varsity played them and lost, but I was just expecting us to play well,” freshman second baseman Jacob Wolfsthal said.
The team considers mental preparation, physical condition and a positive mindset as defining factors for their performance in a game, especially when the outcome is uncertain.
“We didn’t expect to win, but that isn’t an excuse for playing badly. It’s the same sort of thing for any game,” Wolfsthal said. “You can have an expectation, but you can’t let it affect what you do in the game.”
The game got off to a slow start, with Justice striking out several times before scoring three points in the first and second innings. However, just before the first inning ended, freshman Andrew Haydon hit a home run, bringing Jefferson’s score past Justice’s.
“I wouldn’t call it the turning point of the match, but it definitely gave us a burst of energy,” Wolfsthal said. “That sort of thing just doesn’t happen a lot in JV.”
The home run was Haydon’s first in a high school game. Haydon typically plays third baseman but was pitching for this game.
“I had said the night before that I would hit a home run, but I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” Haydon said. “My approach was only to hit it [very hard].”
This win will help the team end the season on a high note by turning around their current record of four wins and four losses.
“It’s just a matter of getting the simple things right and not making any dumb mistakes,” junior first baseman Jonathan Corneliousson said. “It’s a difference in pressure between being on the field and in the dugout, and that’s your chance to execute what you did in practice.”