Spring sports are finishing up as the school year wraps up, and this year's baseball season has come to an end. The JV/reserve baseball teams have worked hard this season and have persevered through many setbacks, in an effort to reach their goals. 

According to Coach Richters, the reserve baseball team had 3 goals for this season. He states that the team always has a goal to beat Norfolk High. This year, they went 2-0 against them, scoring 20 total runs in the first 2 games, and keeping Norfolk off of the scoreboard. They also had a goal of achieving 60% quality at-bats throughout the season. This season, the players eclipsed the 60% goal by 5% and ended with a 65% quality at-bat outcome. Coach Richters says, "This isn't always base hits or doubles, but utilizing each at-bat and being able to move runners, or score runners…our guys had a team-first mentality and were able to come through for the team on multiple occasions." 

Their final goal was to be aggressive on the base paths. Coach Richter states, "As a coach, we can give our players a steal sign, but there are other scenarios where players take their own reads into effect and can steal a base or take an extra-base when they see the opportunity." The team had a total of 72 stolen bases in 23 games this season, and every single player on the team added to that total. The JV team also had similar goals this season, but their goals this year weren’t only to improve their skills, but to also grow as a team, and have a fun season!

However, achieving their goals this year wasn't all that easy; there were a few setbacks for both teams, one of them being the weather. Nearing the end of the season, they faced sleet, snow, rain, and harsh winds. The temperature throughout the season hardly resembled baseball weather, leading to the majority of practices being held inside. Coach Richters states, "We are very grateful and fortunate, though, to be able to practice at the 1C facilities." The weather also canceled their last games of the season at Kearney. Richters says, "In the cold game situations, the guys had an "it's cold for both teams" mentality and we were able to use that attitude to carry ourselves with confidence through unfavorable conditions."

The baseball teams practiced as much as they could this season, having practices from Monday to Friday and a few occasional Saturday practices that took place earlier in the season. Throughout these practices, both coaches, Richters and Reidmiller say that the reserves and JV have improved a great amount since they started.

Coach Richters says that he has seen tremendous growth from the reserves team, several of the players this year have had their first experiences in high school baseball. Despite being first-time players, they have adjusted and learned quickly, Richters says he has enjoyed seeing them improve and grow in each game as they progressed. Coach Reidmiller says that he has also seen loads of improvement within the JV team. It is a fun environment to grow in as an individual and learn what it truly means to be part of a team in High School.

In total, the JV team had 8 wins and 13 losses, and the reserves team finished off 10-12-1. Coach Richters says that while they do not have any upcoming games they still have important events to look forward to this summer. Summer baseball is soon to come, and they are fortunate enough to have several players participate in the summer season. He states that the Legion Baseball Team is saturated with several of the same coaches, ideas, and expectations as the high school team, making the transition seamless.

All in all, the baseball teams faced several challenges, but continued to push through and still conclude with a fun season. The baseball team has made their coaches proud as they put in the effort each game throughout the season!

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