Pulling out the bats and gloves, the Pines Charter Jaguars baseball program is ready to take the field for their 2024-2025 season. Although they ended last season with a 10-17 record, the Jags hope to take what they have learned and make this season be their best one yet.
On Feb. 4th, the Jags defeated McArthur in their first preseason game with the final score being 10-0. During the fifth inning, the team was able to score their 10 runs off of several walks, singles, and freshmen Maddox Hivon getting hit by a pitch.
Junior Dean Jaworski was their starting pitcher, surrendered only one hit from McArthur and zero runs earned over the course of three innings.
The Jags suffered two hard losses in their second preseason and home opener games. Going up against St. John Neumann and Western, the Jaguars experienced difficult innings and long at bats.
Reflecting on these games, senior pitcher Martin Pereira explained “I was a little disappointed in our [losses] but I’m very optimistic for what this season has to offer. We had some solid at bats [in both games] against [a few] great pitchers and [we] were able to hold down their offense quite well.”
Soon enough, the Jags were able to claim a victory in their second regular season game against the Flanagan Falcons. With the final score being 2-7, the bottom of the fifth inning was where the Jaguars brought home seven runs.
Junior Brady Mongera went one for four and brought two runs in as well as sophomore Trey Glaser who went three for three being the winning run of the game.
“[I hope this season my team] really shows ourselves as a group of ball players, and not just an easy game on someone else’s schedule,” says Jaworski.
With each passing game, senior captain Justin Probst has acknowledged that “some of the challenges our team [has] faced is overcoming and bouncing back after a loss or even in the middle of the game if we get behind.”
Not only will this be something the team will strive to fix, but also “baseball is a game that takes time, and your moment doesn’t always come right away,” Jaworski adds.
Being a part of a team means that all the players must build each other up and unite together to reach their goals. Afterall, the Jags hope to advance farther in the District Championship as well as having a good performance at their spring break tournament.
Pereira is confident in his team however, he has also set some goals for himself this season: “I’m going to work as hard as I can, as a senior our coaches and teammates depend on us to get the job done, and I’m hoping to do that every time my name is called.”
Swinging into this new season, the Jags will continue to keep hopes high as they face J.P. Taravella High School next for another home game on Feb. 20th at 6:30 pm.
