This season has been a series of ups and downs for the Jaguar varsity baseball program. It has brought many unforeseen things such as season-ending injuries, to freshman playing on varsity. But throughout this, Falls Church always seemed to hang around and bring out their scrappy, fighting mentality.
With a new head coach, Chris Nolan, taking the reins, the season was not slated to be easy. The team started out the new season with an undesirable record of 3 wins and 5 losses, but with hard work and preparation the Jaguars went on to win four out of their next six games to get back to .500 at a record of 7 wins and 7 losses.
The Varsity team finished the regular season with a record of (state up to date record here) and a conference standing of (state conference standing here) in the conference playoff bracket. Throughout the season the Jags have had a few uncharacteristic losses, but generally the Jags have stayed in every game they played and have picked up a few very nice wins such as a 9-6 win over Hayfield High School, and a scrappy walk-off win over Lee High School after being down by 5.
The team was been led by a squad of nine seniors and the particularly stellar play of Noah Sedmak (12) as well as Tyler James (11) who have been very consistent since the start of the season.
I talked to both players about the season. Noah states, “We had a pretty good year, there have been some highs and some lows but the team continued to stick through it and that really goes to show how resilient our team is.”
Tyler adds, “I think the focus that the team had for the final couple games of the year was really something you can’t teach, it was really something special, and I appreciate the seniors for all they have given this year.”
In conclusion, the Jaguars 2017-18 season was very good and they will look to improve on this season for years to come.