By Alexandra Gutierrez | Photo by Ayana Johnson

Helmets, cleats, jerseys, bats. Baseball. Since the end of February, varsity baseball has been losing and winning games, but now that district is underway they’re focused on a playoff title.

On March 21, the boys suited up and played the Churchill Chargers. But despite their home field advantage, nine innings later, they left the diamond with a 0-10 loss.

“We’re going to go in open minded [next game] after last night’s [Churchill’s] loss,” junior out fielder Kenneth Villarreal said.

The game started at 4:30 in brisk air. As balls were pitched and bats were swung, the score slowly drifted out of Mavs’ favor. Players claim the Chargers’ score was so high due to bad calls and a grand slam that was falsely earned, earning the Mavs a 1-2 district record. But despite the low record, the team is keeping their mind on the big picture.

“If we come together as a team we have the potential to win the rest of our games,” junior second baseman Dylan Pankey commented.

Through the beginning of the season, the team feels like they have improved fundamentally and team-wise but that there is always room for improvement.

“We’re closer together as a team,” senior out fielder Justin Ferry said. “We’ve been working harder at practice, but we still need to get better.”

In the past few weeks, the boys have competed in three games, other than their latest one. They’ve played Warren (7-1), Johnson (2-7), and Roosevelt (6-5). Head Coach Jake Raley, has noticed and begun to work on the team’s weak points.

“Offensively, we really haven’t performed well, but we’re going to continue to work on that,” he said. “We have the potential to be a good offensive team.”

The players have also realized their own individual strengths and weaknesses and continue to build on those, making themselves—and the team—stronger.

“We’re scared to fail each other so we go out there and do our best everyday,” Pankey added.

Through the rest of the season the team plans to build on their strengths, lessen their weaknesses, and come together as a team to steal another base.