The Briar Woods JV Baseball team ended their season on Friday, May 23, against Independence, one of their biggest rivals, in a 10-4 loss.
Head Coach Ron Gonzalez reflected, “Prior to the season, you think it’s going to go a lot smoother than it actually does, but you make mistakes and games get rained out and things don’t go as planned, so there is a lot of adapting on the fly. To sum it all into one moment, I’m proud of how well the team worked together, how well they stood on task, and the amount of respect they had towards each other, towards me and towards what we were trying to accomplish in the season. We gave up a bigger lead early on against Independence, and unfortunately, we couldn’t get the guys back and locked in to score some runs, so there was a bigger gap in the run differential, and it was a little frustrating because I know we can compete with them, but it was still a good end to the season.”
After trailing 3-1 through the first inning, the Falcons fell into a deeper hole when Independence put up six runs in the second to take a commanding 9-1 lead. Freshman Kaleb Griffin started on the mound, with strong relief work from freshman Parker Zapoticzny and sophomore JT Ludwig, who combined for five scoreless innings to keep the game within reach. Offensively, sophomore Jason Peele led the Falcons with two hits and two RBIs, while sophomores Ethan Mattingly and Brayden Frix each scored a run. Briar Woods added one more run in the bottom of the seventh, but fell short as the game closed out their season.
Peele commented, “We couldn’t get it done early, and that set us back. We played well towards the end of the game, because we had energy near the end, but we have to bring that energy from the start through the whole game. It’s a little sad now that the season is over because I like playing baseball, but it’s been a good season with a lot of nice memories.”
Sophomore Kaden Phillips shared his favorite memories, saying, “Probably all of the Saturday practices and whenever JV and Varsity practiced together, because that really helped me become better by learning from other Varsity players, and I was able to ask other sophomores how they were able to get on to Varsity. I’m going to miss being on JV, being with my friends, and just having fun with baseball, but I know that on the Varsity level, you have to push yourself more, and I think I’m prepared for that.”
With the season concluded, Coach Gonzalez talks about his goals for the team next season, stating, “In the coming years, the mission is to solidify ourselves in that number one spot in the district. It’s bittersweet that the season is over and a little sad to not have another game to look forward to, but there’s always next season, so I’m excited for that.”
“I mentioned to the boys that the window gets smaller for the mistakes that they’re going to be able to make at the next level of baseball, whether that’s Varsity or travel, and the game gets faster. My goal is to prepare the team for that by improving our baseball IQ which doesn’t happen automatically and takes a little more effort, knowing what it is that we’re going to do before a pitch is thrown, and skill development which will happen naturally,” continued Gonzalez.
