Clarkston’s varsity baseball team has one thing in mind going into this season – a state championship.
‘We’re going all the way to states and we’re going to take the trophy home,? said senior Jake Sims.
After a promising season last year which resulted in a loss to Adams at regionals, the Wolves have their entire pitching rotation returning, including senior Andrew Fairse who was sidelined last year with a torn ACL.
He worked extremely hard during his eight month recovery period to bring himself back to full strength for this season.
‘There is no reason we can’t win states this year, we have a great lineup and pitching staff that should be able to carry us all the way,? said Fairse.
Senior Jassiel Gonzalez, who is one of the key returning players, thinks the only thing that can stop this team from winning it all is their own egos.
‘We just can’t get too cocky or too far ahead of ourselves,? said Gonzalez.
This year’s team is expecting to rely heavily on pitching when their bats don’t pull through. Along with Fairse, senior pitchers Matt Rodgers and Vince Siwicki plan on keeping their composure when playing teams like Rochester Adams and Lake Orion.
‘Baseball is kind of a funny sport because very good teams could have good days and bad days, you can never tell what’s going to happen,? said senior Brian Burger.
However, the Wolves will do all they can to prevent having the bad days. The seniors on the team should provide experience and leadership in late-game situations.
‘If we do end up having one of those bad days we can’t let it effect us too much, we have to be able to pick ourselves back up for the next game,? said Sims.
This year’s team seems exceedingly confident that they will be able to win a state championship and if everything goes according to plan, it will be the first one brought back to Clarkston since 1976.
‘If we play smart and don’t stoop down to a lesser team’s level, there’s no reason we can’t win it all,? said Burger.
The Wolves home opener, originally scheduled for Wednesday against Lake Orion, is postponed due to field conditions.
They will begin the season on April 12 in a double header against Royal Oak, 4:30 p.m. at home.