![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
New Team, New Tactics
After Rocky Start, Baseball Team Looks Forward to 2019 Season
Throwing a heater, senior pitcher Sam Householder pitches against the opposing batter. “[My goals are] being an impact player on varsity and hopefully being a district pitcher of the year,” Householder said.
February 27, 2019
As the winter sports come to a close, one sport begins its 2019 journey: baseball.
With a younger team and the addition of new coach Chris Staton, the baseball team is ready to begin the new season and make another run in playoffs.
“This year, we’re a pretty young team, I would say,” senior outfielder Ean Hagy said. “We’ve been working pretty hard and I think this year is going to be a good year.”
After taking a run in playoffs last year, the team is changing the way they practice and their mindset going into the year. These new tactics have been made possible with the new addition of Staton, according to senior pitcher Sam Householder.
“He’s really helped out the entire program,” Householder said. “He gives new insight on pitching and catching, and helps out in the weight room. [He has] helped us get stronger throughout the whole offseason.”
Staton, who started in the fall of 2018, has the team focus on the strength and conditioning aspect of the game to help them throughout the year, according to senior catcher Jason Malmquist. Aside from the physical help Staton has brought to the plate, the players are also going into the season with a different mindset than before in order to help them make a run in playoffs again this season, Malmquist said.
“This year, I’m trying to come into the mindset with, ‘it’s not given to us’,” Malmquist said. “We have to work to win games and I think with this team, we can do that.”
For the team, it’s not just about winning games. Malmquist said that what is most important is getting out on the field and playing with his teammates.
“I feel like this year, we have got new dirt on the infield and we’re ready to go,” Malmquist said. “I’m looking forward to getting out on the field and playing with all of my brothers, hopefully getting some wins in the process.”
District games start March 13, where the team will face Glenn. For the season schedule, click here.
“We’re always going to have that goal of winning State, but I think this year, we’re going to finish what we started,” Hagy said. “We’re not going to take time off, we’re just going to keep grinding the whole season.”
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
