Solon High School will be competing in many springtime sports including baseball, softball, and girl’s lacrosse. As the athletes get ready for a new season of sports, the amount of practice increases, as well as the pressure to win.

Although many strong seniors from the 2016 baseball, softball and lacrosse teams have graduated, the coaches don’t doubt for a second that remaining team members will carry their team to  state championships.

Baseball

“We had a very successful season last year, and the good news is that we have accumulated very strong seniors this year to come in and play for us,” said Damien Kopkas, the baseball coach at SHS. “I’m not sure that I can really single a kid out, but what made us so fortunate was that we had a lot of good kids  playing with the team and with each other, and I think if we continue to work with each other this year, we may be able to reach victory again.”

Kopkas believes that there are strong competitors this season and describes the fact that it might be difficult for Solon to come out on top; competitors are expected to include Medina, Mentor, Strongsville and Shaker Heights, all of whom are talented teams.

“We play every year to win, and I think it’s part of the mentality to go out there and know that you are ready to compete and challenge yourself,” Kopkas said. “ I think if we practice every single day and learn from our mistakes, then we should be able to beat every single team on that schedule.”

Baseball season lasts about six weeks starting from early May and finishing in the first week of June. Tryouts for baseball are finished, and the official 2017 Solon baseball team has now been finalized. Last year the team was able to go to states, and their hope is that they will be able to repeat it again this year.

“I’m really excited to get back out there and I think Solon does have a great chance of going back to states, said junior Casey Maniglia, a varsity player at SHS. “We will practice every single day and work hard to correct anything that needs to be corrected. Our team has so much fun playing baseball, and I think that because of this I am able to make a connection with my teammates and play better with them. This connection is what will propel us forward and help us win.”

Softball

SHS junior and softball player  Ellie Hurst,  also agrees that putting more focus into communicating and having fun is better for your team. “I would almost say that winning comes with the enjoyment of the game,” Hurst said.

Elyria, Medina, Brunswick, and Mentor high schools are all skillful teams focused on moving forwards this season. This will make it hard for Solon to come out on top, but SHS softball coach LeAnn Fonner believes that her team will pull through and be able to go to states despite other skilled teams moving forward.  

“This years season of softball players will be composed of a strong class of seniors including Macie Sapp, Francesca Rapposelli and Erica Herchick,” Fonner said. “These seniors have shown skill and leadership in the game which could lead to achieving personal as well as a united excellence from the SHS team.  We also have a very strong sophomore crowd, all of whom are pitchers, Alisson Bican, Hallie Sutyak and Kaylee Grimm.”

Girls Lacrosse

Girls lacrosse, in their second season as a varsity sport, will take on Orange as their main competitor, and Toledo later in the season. Last year, girls lacrosse did not get the chance to compete in states, but this year they are hoping for better results.

“I think this year we might do a lot better than we did last year,” said junior Sofia Foglietti, a player for girls lacrosse at SHS. “Last year we didn’t play as well because it was our first year playing as a varsity sport, and we were struggling from inexperience, as well as not being very established.”

The girls lacrosse season will last until the middle of May, and some players to look out for throughout springtime will be senior, Jordan Morlani at SHS and junior, Catherine Mandry.

“We’re becoming stronger as a team, and overall I think that this year more than others you can expect a lot from us,” Mandry said. “I am so excited to get back out there because I love the girls, and I love the team. Hopefully we will get far this year and I hope all our hard work pays off for us.”
Baseball, softball, and girls lacrosse all want to have a chance to compete in the state championships. However, this is not the ultimate goal for SHS, all teams testified that having fun is the number one  priority and that hopefully, winning can just be an added bonus.