By Heather Campbell
Staff Writer
After finishing in second place in the playoffs the past two years, SLA Boys Baseball are preparing to step up to the plate and go for the title of Division Champions, with a few new changes too.
For the first time the team will hold both a Varsity and Junior Varsity team.
Positions on the teams will be highly competitive. “Some current Varsity players have been on Varsity since 9th grade and some 9th graders this season are already good enough to compete on the Varsity level,” said Coach Herman.
The varsity team will be coached by History Teach Douglas Herman, while new coach Dan Winterstein from Mt. Airy Baseball will manage JV.
“He’s a good coach,” commented Junior Jhonas Dunakin about Coach Winterstein“He has experience and he knows what he is doing on the field.”
“We have a lot of dedicated guys who are making this team a priority and seeing it as an extension of their family.” commented Coach Herman. In addition to dedication, communication, motivation, and training will make their season as successful as they are hoping it will be.
In preparation for tryouts and the season, the Boys Baseball team has been undergoing an extensive preseason training, composed up of conditioning, skills training, situational training, and will soon be incorporating scrimmages against other city teams.
“We try to make trainings as realistic as possible,” mentioned Junior Antonio Reveron, “I feel like there are some flaws that still need to be worked out, but overall we will definitely give some teams a challenge.”
Last year they lost in the playoffs to Nueva Esperanza, an A Division team. The year before, they lost to Philadelphia Academy Charter, a B division team. With all this preparation Coach Herman is confident about a successful season and expects to win D division.
Two additional changes in this year’s season is the location of their playing fields. The previously homeless baseball now have an official practice field at 44th and Haverford and an official home field at Mt. Airy Park in Germantown.
The Boys Baseball team begin their season on April 2nd, with Varsity playing against King and Junior Varsity against Boys Latin.