Even though the CHS varsity baseball team has suffered with inconsistency due to the loss of seniors from the previous year, the team still works hard to adjust to the fresh faces this spring season, getting comfortable to the fast pace of varsity baseball.

“The team this year is young and is still trying to figure out how to play on the varsity level, but we never give up and continue to strive to our full potential,” senior and varsity baseball player Brent Hollinger said.
Although the team is still working to make their game play more fluid and powerful, two members of the team were sought out by various schools due to their talent as pitchers. Senior Andrew Bernstein is going to be a new member of the Gauchos at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). There were many other schools that were interested in him, including University of Southern California, Pepperdine University, University of San Diego, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Since beginning to play at the age of five, Bernstein has always had a serious passion for the sport and landed a spot on the CHS varsity baseball team when he was only a sophomore. Bernstein was discovered when he attended a showcase and the UCSB coaches approached him. After he showed his pitching ability and took an unofficial tour of the campus, he was offered a partial scholarship during the summer of his junior year.

“It was a relief to know that I made it to UCSB because all of the hard work, sweat and tears and my dedication to the sport really paid off,” Bernstein said. “I really would like to continue with the sport and hopefully get drafted and play professionally.”
Bernstein has already made up his mind regarding college plans, but junior Tyler Witt is not sure where his path will take him. Since freshman year, Witt has played on the CHS varsity baseball team and has always worked hard to get where he is today. He was requested upon by University of Oregon and has made a verbal agreement to attend the college to play baseball, but still has his options open. After seeing the campus and meeting the baseball team’s coaching staff, Witt believes this is the best school for him.

“It is really about getting your name out there in order for schools to discover you. This sport means a lot to me and hopefully I can achieve my dream of playing professionally,” Witt said.

These two varsity players work hard along with the rest of the team to improve their game. The team’s work ethic requires each position on the field, both pitchers and infielders, to work together to improve the skills needed to prepare themselves for their upcoming games. The varsity team this year would like to continue to practice on their hitting ability and would like to see more repetition that has not been occurring lately. Nevertheless, the team is encouraged by their coaching staff to become more productive.

“The varsity baseball team this year has an abundant amount of energy and [they] are always striving to perform well even though the season has been rough this year,” head coach Geoff Ranney said.

Since the team this year cannot achieve their dream of going to CIF, the boys baseball team is focused on the little goals to become a better team. If a minor mistake happens during a game or even a practice, the team works to fix the error to make their team as best as possible. One crucial goal that the team hopes to accomplish is to beat any games against their rival, Damien, because it would allow the team to realize that with hard work, anything is possible. As the season continues, the team strives to perform well to make their long-awaited goal of making it to CIF since the team has made it the past two years. These boys’ individual goals are to work to their best potential in the hopes to attain a baseball scholarships, like their fellow teammates, and have a good rest of the season.