Baseball season has started and APK is excited! So far, the baseball team has a 2-2 record with 2 wins and 2 losses. Our team is doing well so far, and we’re excited to see where the season takes them! The team has high expectations for this year, as their record last year was 16-10, with 16 wins and 10 losses.
To learn more about our team, we talked to some of our players. Junior Dylan Sanders, our shortstop and utility player, likes the responsibility of his positions and the close games that come with playing baseball. Dylan prepares
for the baseball season by training his mind to “keep it strong because baseball is more of a mental game than anything else.” Dylan is most excited for our game against Dr. Phillips (on 3/11/24) as “it’s always a good game between us.” However, he’s also a little nervous about it because “we seem to make critical errors that cost us the game.” Still, he’s confident in their team to pull out a win!
We also talked to Juniors Wyatt Jaggers and Connor McAfee, two pitchers on the APK team. Wyatt loves being a pitcher, as it allows him to be in control of the game and pace of the game. Connor enjoys pitching because he likes learning “different pitch types and watching the ball move.” Wyatt and Connor both love the competitive nature of the game and spending time with their teammates and coaches. Wyatt told us, “I like the camaraderie on the team and how well we get along with our coaches. It’s almost like another family. I can talk to them about anything and they’re not going to be rude and they’re really gonna listen to what I say.” Both pitchers are most excited for the game against West Orange (on 3/8/24) because it’s “always a dogfight and it’s really fun to play them.” They’re both a little nervous about playing TFA (The First Academy) because they’re “a really tough team and they always bring out the best in us. We can’t make mistakes against them. So that’s why there’s nerves sometimes when we play a good team like them.” To prepare for a long, tough season, Wyatt and Connor practice a lot, work out together, watch what they eat, don’t get hurt, etc. “We just take it seriously. We prepare and we talk to each other and find out what we want to do” said Wyatt. According to the pitchers, baseball doesn’t interfere too much with their academics. Connor told us, “You just got to be committed to both school and athletics.” Wyatt said, “You can’t get bad grades, so when you get the time, you do your work and you just have to be responsible.”
Baseball is a very valuable sport, not only because of athletics, but also its ability to teach you beneficial life skills. Dylan said baseball has taught him patience and helped improve his focus. Wyatt said the sport teaches you “how to handle adversity and fight through. When you make a mistake, you have to get yourself back up because you can’t just lay there and let the problems unfold.” Connor told us baseball “really preps the mental side of life. Whenever you have to face a problem you just gotta get it done yourself.”
We are very excited to see how our team does this season and the players are ready for some awesome games! If you want to know the baseball schedule, check out this link with the dates and times of every game: https://www.maxpreps.com/fl/apopka/apopka-blue-darters/baseball/schedule/, and to quote Wyatt, “Come out and support the team, man!”
