Gallery • 2 Photos

Ben Blackie

Riley Steinbugl waits on base while the pitcher throws the ball. She is getting ready to take a lead.

As spring begins, so do its sports. Coming up: boys’ tennis, boys’ baseball, girls’ softball and boys’ and girls’ track.

Boys’ Tennis

“I’m looking forward to the season because I like to play tennis,” ninth grader Nick Shimminger said.

Ninth grade boys play on the high school team as there is no official junior high team.

“The hardest part of tennis is getting your serves in. It’s not easy to serve and get it in everytime,” Shimminger said.

A serve in tennis is a shot to start a point. A player will hit the ball with a raquet so it will fall into the diagonally opposite service box without being stopped by the net.

“My favorite part of tennis is going on away matches and winning them because then we get to go out to eat and get Chinese food,” Shimminger said.

A tennis match is made up of two to three sets. To win a set, a person must win at least six games. The games are scored starting at “love” (zero) and go up to forty.

Girls’ Softball

“I’m looking forward to the season because I’m going to be able to go to some of the varsity games even though I’m just a freshman,” ninth grader Riley Steinbugl said.

There is a junior high softball team and a high school team.

“The hardest part of softball is playing outfield because it is not my best spot,” Steinbugl said.

The outfield in softball is the section of fair territory between the infield and the fence.

“My favorite part of softball is batting because I’ve been working hard on my swing,” Steinbugl said.

Batting is the offensive side of softball.

Boys’ and Girls’ Track

“I’m looking forward to the season because I like running,” ninth grader Aydan Summers said.

Although the junior high has a track team, ninth graders compete with the high school athletes.

“The hardest part of track is the workouts because they’re long and we have to sprint,” Summers said.

Track workouts usually consist of 400, 800 and 200 sprints on the track.

“My favorite part of track is the meets because it’s fun to compete against other people,” Summers said.

Jumping, sprinting, throwing, hurdling, pole vault and distance running are all events in track.

Boys’ Baseball

“I’m looking forward to the season because we get to go to Virginia,” ninth grader Garrett Rossman said.

Baseball is another sport only available to ninth graders as a high school sport.  Many younger athletes compete on other local teams.

“The hardest part of baseball is hitting because you don’t know what you’re going to hit,” Rossman said.

Hitting is the offensive side of baseball.

“My favorite part of baseball is pitching because pitching allows me to be invovled more,” Rossman said.