It is the end of the baseball season and Ánimo Pat Brown has done great with a total of 7 wins and 3 losses.
This year’s baseball season started on March 13, 2012 and ended May 15, 2012. The team consists of seventeen players ranging from grade levels 9 to 12: two freshmen, two sophomores, seven juniors, and seven seniors.
This seasons baseball team has done exceptionally well compared to last year’s baseball team, since they did not play for a longer time. Last season’s baseball team had a winning percentage of 4 and this season’s team had a winning percentage of 6.
“This season’s team is more organized than last season’s team in the sense that we communicate as a team and not two different schools,” senior Javier Ibarra stated.
As well as communicating as a team and being well organized, these boys also help each other while playing a game.
“I feel confident about this team because we all encourage and help each other with difficult tasks,” junior Juan Gomez said.
Students tend to try out for sports during high school, although some have past experience and others have no had the chance before.
“I started playing baseball when I was five and I’ve been playing ever since,” sophomore Raul Mora said.
Some students might not only have tried out for the baseball team due to their past experience, but also because of the encouragement given by others around them.
“My influences were my friends, family and my passion for the game,” junior Eddie Valdez said.
When being assigned homework and having to focus in school everyday, it gets hard to maintain good grades.
“I try to stay one day for the class that I’m most struggling with and if I don’t, then I make up work on the weekends to keep up with my grades,” Javier said.
Although it may be hard to maintain good grades, there are other important things that need to be juggled along with sports.
“I do homework when I get home and manage to put aside both important and unimportant events,” Eddie said.
A lot of pressure can be put on the players at times but it is possible to get over it.
“I do get nervous because we have to try and intimidate the other team as well as play a good game,” Juan said.
In sports, making errors is bad and in order for the game to go well, those errors need to be corrected. The players tend to have in mind that those mistakes cannot be repeat. For example, in game number 13, against Kennedy High School, the team started off losing by three and ended up winning by one. It was one of the most intense games of this season.
“Our goal is to make no errors and if we do, we make up for it in a way that we have to play better in the next game,” Javier said.
Many players that get nervous and tense before a game usually do something before the game that relaxes them.
“As a pre-game ritual I always listen to Tyga; it gets me pumped and relaxed before a game,” Juan said.
Sports injuries are always a possibility, especially when playing in a position where it is easy for someone to get hit with the ball.
“Both seasons that I’ve played baseball for APB I twisted my ankle,” Raul said.
Sports injuries not only come from playing in a dangerous position, but it is also possible to get hurt by what players may think are the less dangerous situations, like running bases.
“I injured my ankle by running and sliding on the base,” Eddie said.
Although it is the end of the baseball season, many of the players had a good time and a great experience getting to know each other better and playing together as one.
“It was a good experience and I met a lot of people. I’m excited to be coming back next season and see familiar faces,” junior Gustavo Medrano said.
This season, the Ánimo Monarchs’ hard work and determination paid off because they joined the play-offs.
Even though, they lost their first play-off game against Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies High
School by fourteen points, they did exceptionally well this season and the players put full effort all throughout.
