The HS Varsity Boys’ Baseball team celebrated their first Senior Night in Horizon Honors history against Central High School on Tuesday, Apr. 29 at 3:45 pm at Red Mountain Park

There were posters and signs hung up on the outside of the dugout facing the fans. They honored and thanked the two seniors on the team, Jack Kenzler and Cody Welty. Some of the things that were on them were the senior’s name, their number, their nickname(s), etc.

An opening ceremony for the seniors began the Senior Night game. All of the players on the team were in a line and gave respect to their coach, the seniors, and their families that were quietly standing by. Coach Downes honored and recognized each Senior and their family on the field. Both seniors were able to have their families up on the field with them. He spoke about their most memorable moments of their Varsity HS baseball career, which their parents had shared with the coach earlier. Jack Kenzler (#9) and Cody Welty (#10) were handed beautiful yellow flowers to give to their mom as a thank you. They also received a wooden bat, which had their name engraved in it. The boys had their teammates sign their bats as a memory of this season and their entire Horizon Honors HS baseball career.

During the game, Horizon started off the game with a great catch from a pop fly hit. Throughout the game, the boys were hustling everywhere. The boys struggled a bit at the top of the third inning when Central High School managed to score three runs. After that, the Eagles were down 2-3.

Freshman Spencer Brown caught an impressive pop fly during the game. An important factor at this point in the game was for our team to protect the strike zone. At the bottom of the fourth inning, junior Garrett Leake hit an in-the-field home run. This helped the team recover from the runs given away during the third inning. Leake hit the ball to the fence, and it took a while for the other team to retrieve it. We, the Horizon Honors fans were screaming, yelling, feeling nervous, and our excitement only grew as the game progressed.

At the top of the fifth inning, there was a player on the opposing team who got into a pickle, but our team managed to prevent him from scoring a run. A pickle is a case in baseball when a stranded runner is between two bases is at risk of getting out. There was a meeting on the mound for Horizon Honors, which is when the players on the field meet together reflecting on their mistakes and what they need to do in order to help out their team  for the rest of the game. Even though they did not win the game, it was close, and the only thing that matters is that everyone on the team pitched in to help the team.

Kenzler stated, “Getting my bat handed to me was pretty cool.” Jack broke his finger during his Junior season, and he felt like his greatest achievement was coming back to baseball his Senior season. Welty said being with his team and being recognized as a Senior with his mom and dad made his Senior Night memorable. “My greatest achievement during my entire HS baseball career is coming back from three back surgeries,” stated Welty.

Coach Downes said, “The boys played well together and got along very well. They had a successful season.” The Horizon 2014 HS baseball team had the most wins in Horizon Baseball History. The two Seniors offered some advice for the upcoming freshman who will play on the team next year, which was work hard, stay positive, don’t ever get down, and don’t let anything get to your head.