By Rory Mayer
As one of the best programs at Ponte Vedra High School the baseball team is looking for continued success this season. This season, however, provides additional challenges between the pandemic and the extremely inexperienced Sharks. The Sharks will be led by Senior ace Scott Griesemer, who recently committed to the University of North Florida to continue his academic and athletic career. Mr. Griesemer has admittedly stated that, “This year will be an uphill battle with how young we are, but I think we have a solid chance of winning districts.” Coming off a solid freshman campaign now Sophomore catcher Braden Kessel returns for a second season along with the well-rounded Senior Corey Udell. The team is made with a melting pot of athletes made up of mostly underclassmen mixed in with some upperclassmen which will most likely provide a challenging start but will better the young players for the future. The Sharks face a tough regular season schedule playing local powerhouses such as Bartram Trail High School and Bolles High School, but the tough games will only prepare the young Sharks for the rough waters that are the districts and regional playoff games.
The Sharks played their season opener on the road and made the trip down to Ridgeview High School. The Sharks would play a decent game but not their best by any means and lost a close game 2-3. The Sharks gave up run one run in the second and two more in the fourth; The Sharks managed to score a run in the fourth and then gave themselves a chance to win in the sixth by scoring a run and shutting down Ridgeview in the top of the seventh but couldn’t convert in the last inning. The Sharks are eager to bounce back against Englewood High School on 2/19.
The Sharks game against the Englewood Rams was canceled unfortunately and the game was rescheduled. Next on the schedule was the Oakleaf High School Knights and the made the trip down to the shark tank only to be rudely awaken by a thunderous offensive sharknado attack. The Sharks shut down the Knights in the top of the first and then went on to score four of their game high seven runs in the opening inning. The Sharks would slow down their offensive attack after the first only scoring one more run after the second inning, but the last run would prove to be very timely as it served as the walk off that would propel the Sharks to a 7-6 home victory. The victory was a solid team win which should foreshadow future success for the Sharks.
