With the Super Bowl marking the end of the NFL season, the floor is set for America’s pastime  – both Major League and at EHS. On February 13th, pitchers and catchers reported to Florida and Arizona to begin their work for the season. Position players reported by the 16th. The MLB’s Spring Training is divided into two leagues – the Cactus League, made up of the teams who practice in Arizona, and the Grapefruit League, consisting of teams who practice in Florida. Teams are given a little over a month to hold practices and exhibition games to prepare for the regular season, with Opening Day being held at the end of March.

Aside from the MLB season, the World Baseball Classic is coming up in March. The WBC is essentially the World Cup of baseball, occurring every 4 years and establishing a tournament between countries around the world. The last one was held in 2017, but qualifying tournaments were postponed because of the pandemic. As things eased up, it was announced that the tournament would return in March of 2023. Rostering a mix of MLB players and players from their homeland, countries such as the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Italy, and Japan look to make it all the way to steal the title from the reigning champions, our very own United States.

Most importantly for our school, however, only a few more weeks until Emerson’s own baseball and softball seasons begin. Pitchers and catchers begin working on March 13th, with everyone else stepping in on the 16th.

Last season was a great turnaround year for the varsity baseball team, although the Cavos fell short early in the States tournament, they finished with a strong 16 wins and 9 losses, a huge upgrade from the previous season’s 6-16 record. Expectations are very high for this season as the Cavos seek to go all the way to repeat the 2019 season.

Emerson’s JV team didn’t have a great season last year, hopefully it takes a turn for the better with a new group of experienced freshmen coming in. The same can be said for the varsity softball team, although they didn’t make it all the way they finished this past season with an incredible record of 20-4.

I asked the softball team’s star pitcher, Natalie Graham, some questions about this season. She said that “…we did lose 3 starting seniors, however we have a strong group of underclassmen that are willing to put in the effort it needs to make this season even better”.

Mr. Mansfield has stepped out from his position as head coach of the JV team, being replaced by EHS alumnus Brendan Kelly, who served as the assistant JV coach last year. Coaching staff for the softball program remains the same

The first couple of weeks will be used for practices and scrimmages, with games beginning in the first week of April.

I also got to speak with Mr. Sommerhalter, the head coach of the varsity baseball team. He told me, “Our program is only 8 wins away from 1000 program wins which would be an amazing accomplishment. Every year we always have 3 major goals, win the league championship, make the county tournament and make some noise in the state tournament.  We have a solid group of returning players and underclass from our 2022 team that are eager and ready to compete”.

You heard it here folks, show your faces at the diamonds and make some noise for your 2023 Emerson Cavos.