After finishing the last two baseball seasons with records of 7-12 and 7-13 Crossroads won its first three games this time.
Then it lost to Beverly Hills, 3-2 in nine innings.
’To be honest, the players didn’t take the loss very well,” said Co-coach Pat Armstrong.
The Roadrunners’ attitude is clearly changing, and as Armstrong explains, “we have a lot of players who care.”
It remains to be seen how Crossroads will fare in the Delphic league, where Windward is the favorite. And it remains to be seen how the players will adjust to Armstrong’s demand for greater accountability, something he brought this season when he joined Matt Amido as co-coach.
One rule is that anyone who misses a practice doesn’t play in the next game and one of the team’s regulars paid that price recently.
“It’s learning about life,” said Armstrong.”When you’re an adult if you don’t show up for work you might not have a job the next day.”
Thus far Crossroads has demonstrated the ability to run the bases well and has had quality pitching.
In a non-league 3-2 win over New Roads on a Friday night at Clover Park Crossroads prevailed in nine innings.
Sophomore Max Robinson has been the winning pitcher twice and senior Jason Schneider has emerged as the team’s closer. Caleb Hodge has been the most productive batter with six hits and four RBI. Speedy shortstop Andres Leyva creates havoc for opponents on the basepaths.
Jake Berg-Rosenblatt and Josh Flyer are other key players in the lineup.
Armstrong is cautiously optimistic but knows the team has a long way to go.
“We’re on the staircase to success,” he said.
