Ryan Holmes

In his first year on varsity, Ryan Holmes, sophomore, is joining a well established team looking to continue its success. The majority of the championship winning team has returned for this season, with just a few seniors graduating at the end of last season.

“It’s my first year on varsity,” Holmes said. “So I’m trying to hopefully get playing time and get my first baseball ring.”

Holmes plays first and third base, and hits and throws with his right hand. Like many others on the team, Holmes started playing baseball at a young age, participating in his first competitive season during his third grade year. 

“I play baseball because I think it’s a good mental game and it helps me raise my confidence,” Holmes said. “Also it just runs in my family.”

By joining the varsity baseball team, Holmes is following in the footsteps of his older brother Jake Holmes, senior, who was on last year’s state championship winning team as a junior and is returning to play again this season.

“[I’m excited] to just bond with the team,” Holmes said. “I haven’t played baseball with a lot of these people in my life, so it’s just exciting to have a new team.”

As the team embarks on its quest for back to back titles, they will endure the mental and physical challenge of a packed schedule, usually playing multiple games per week.

“Baseball is a really mental game,” Holmes said. “It’s just easy to get down on yourself. Like you have one bad game and it’s easy to just fall apart. So I’m just trying to not fall apart and make sure I keep my head up.”