As one of many seniors, Sam Ladd has carved out a leadership role on the baseball team this season. Ladd has played varsity games in all three of his seasons so far and he will be tasked with manning third base this season.

“I expect to improve on my overall offense as I was not as consistent as I wanted to be last season,” Ladd said.

“Without a couple key hitters from last year, I know I need to make improvements and become a consistently solid bat in our lineup.”

Out of the returning players from last season, Ladd was second last year in batting average, hitting .221, and he is one of two returning players to hit a home run. The team had an overall rough year, having a record of 6-20. 

“I expect the team to make improvements in all parts of the game this season, and that starts with senior leadership,” Ladd said.

“Last season, we didn’t have a ton of seniors so juniors with varsity experience like me were relied on heavily. This season, we have 11 seniors with 9 of us making at least one appearance in a varsity game.”

Every year, the team gets to do something special that other teams do not get to experience. The team plays a game against Parkway North at Busch Stadium.

“Everybody looks forward to the Busch Stadium game every year,” Ladd said.

“Getting to play on a field that you watch your favorite team play on is just an amazing experience and it makes it even better that we get to play one of our main rivals. We have to work hard to sell tickets to an actual cardinal game, but it’s all immediately worth it once we step on the field.” 

Every year, every high school team hopes to at least win a district championship. Last season was very disappointing for the baseball team as the team was bounced in the first round of the district tournament.

“As a senior, I’m definitely pressuring myself and the team to go as far as we know we can because I have not experienced a district championship in  the three years prior to this year,” Ladd said.

“Coach Davis always talks about how great the experience is of being a part of a district championship team and I really want to experience that feeling before I leave high school.”

Look for Ladd to be one of the main leaders on his team this year and help take his team as far as they can go.

Sophomore Piper Douglas looks to carve out a role on the girls lacrosse team this upcoming season and have her team become close.

“I would like to see my team have fun and become a family throughout the season,” Douglas said.

Douglas is one of many student athletes that plays for both her school and for a club team and she does notice some differences in how the games are played at the two levels.

“Club is a little bit more fast paced than school lacrosse,” Douglas said.

“The competition is a little better because most high schools have girls playing that are fairly new to the sport, while club teams mostly have girls that have more experience.”

Even though she is only a sophomore, Douglas has aspirations of playing lacrosse at the collegiate level.

“I’m interested in playing lacrosse in college because I look up to many athletes who became successful in college as role models in my life,” Douglas said.

Along with her desires for the team, she has expectations and desires for herself this season.

“The expectations I set for myself this season is to work hard during practice and work even harder outside,” Douglas said.

“I want to improve my ability to see the whole field and become quicker on my feet.”

Look for Douglas to make an impact at the varsity level in her second year as part of the program.