As the final buzzer sounds on my senior year of high school, I find myself looking back at the different paths to both victory and defeat that I took in my two varsity sports.
Every athlete has to face adversity at some point in their career. In my senior year, I faced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in my competitive sports.
I played basketball and baseball all four years of my high school career, but I never had a year like this year. Basketball season came first, and we finished with an impressive 16-6 season. We hosted the first home playoff game in 39 years at Baldwin in the first round.
After winning in the first round against North Allegheny, we went on to make it all the way to the WPIAL 6A championship game at the Petersen Events Center. After coming up short, we got a spot in the state playoffs as well, but unfortunately we lost in the first round.
Winning in basketball strengthened my ideas of teamwork, discipline, and perseverance. Every victory we accomplished made every hard practice even more worth it.
It was crazy to experience that side of a sport, especially in a school like Baldwin, where sports success isn’t all that common.
After that, I was excited about the upcoming baseball season. But it went nothing like I could’ve imagined.
We started off the season rough, but stayed positive and looked for a light at the end of the tunnel. But after one loss after another, the team – myself included – started to lose interest.
After putting up a shocking 0-15 record in section play, and a 1-19 record overall, I didn’t know what to think. It was a hard pill to swallow, and after the same countless hours of practice and hard work, it seemed almost out of our control.
No matter who we put out there, most games we were getting mercy ruled and were not competitive at all.
Despite going 0-15, I was still able to keep my spirits high and had my best pitching season out of any of my high school years. Losing in baseball brought me even more perseverance, and it taught me how to make the best out of what you have.
Baseball has always been my main sport, ever since I was young. It was crazy to me that I could barely enjoy the season because of how terribly bad we were.
In the end, it is not as much about the wins and losses to me. It’s all about the journey you are a part of and the lessons you pick up on the way.
So whether we find ourselves celebrating a buzzer-beater victory on the basketball court or dealing with a tough loss on the baseball diamond, we should embrace the essence of competition, the thrill of victory, the sting of defeat, and the never-ending pursuit of greatness.
