Edmond Memorial High School’s varsity baseball team has been hitting it out of the park this season, holding a 13-8 overall record and third in district. They are looking forward to a great season and hope to make it to the championship.
Baseball head coach J.P. Holman has been coaching for five years at EMHS. Before coming to EMHS, he spent 10 years coaching at Deer Creek High School, two years at Putnam City West High School and four years at Edmond Santa Fe High School, for a total of 21 years of coaching baseball. During those years, he has brought multiple teams to state tournaments. With all of Holman’s knowledge about baseball, he knows the challenges each season and how to overcome them.
“There’s obstacles everywhere you go,” Holman said. “Each season presents its own challenges, whether you don’t have the pitching correct or that offense isn’t where you want to be or even off of the field stuff that get in the way.”
EMHS’s baseball team is already working hard with strenuous training and having to play up to five games a week. It can lead to fatigue and injuries with how hard they are working. With all the hard training they go through, it can be difficult to win every game. Even through hardship, the team tries to have good sportsmanship and have fun on the field.
“My favorite game was against Bixby,” senior pitcher Garrett Baker said. “When I pitched, they were the number one team in the state and we ended up losing, but it was a super fun game.”
Some of the ways that some baseball players practice can range from practicing their throwing, working out and hitting the ball across the field throughout the week. Many obstacles can make playing games difficult such as muscle strains and playing many of the games, but maintaining a healthy sleep pattern and food intake is key to their success.
“I make sure that I get eight hours of sleep and, create healthy eating habits and drink lots of water to make sure my body performs at top condition,” senior catcher Andrew Scott said.
Playing baseball allows players to show skills and teamwork on the field, and colleges notice this. Students who play sports are more likely to receive scholarships from colleges around the world. Sports such as baseball, have been giving students opportunities in college and allowing sports to give them opportunities to earn scholarships.
“My plans after high school are to attend Northwestern Oklahoma State University to play baseball,” Scott said. “I received an offer to play on their squad and [plan to] graduate with a degree in business.”
The baseball season will come to an end on May 11, and the team can’t wait for the chance to go to state. Seeing how these players can earn scholarships for college and play what they want to do for a living after high school is always fun to see. Many of the players plan on continuing with this career and will maybe become recognizable names in the Major League Baseball.
Contact Ryder Richardson at [email protected]
