By Connor Mahay ‘22

I have been a part of the Brother Rice baseball program throughout the entirety of my career at Brother Rice High School. Being a part of that program has taught me the most valuable things that I have learned in the short 18 years that I have been alive. I have also created some great memories along the way.

Nothing out of the previous three years has come close to how much I am enjoying my fourth and final year of baseball. The 2022 Brother Rice varsity baseball team is the best group that I have ever been a part of. We are extremely talented on the field and have even better comradery off it.

Our record is 19-3 with the Catholic League Blue coming up. Our record is not the most important thing, however. The most important thing is the end goal – a state championship, a feat that no other Crusader baseball team has completed since 1976.

The thing that I have learned through the first 22 games of the season is to stick together. We are unbeatable when we support and cheer on one another. We are unbeatable when we pick each other up and fight together even if we are not having our best game.

Friday, April 22, taught me this lesson most. We had just lost our first two games of the season to St. Xavier, Kentucky. We were tired and questioning ourselves after earning only a total of six runs in two games. The boys bounced back.

We scored 12 runs on 14 hits against the number one team in Kentucky – Trinity High School. Cole Van Assen had a great game on the mound, throwing a complete game, allowing only three runs. We knew that we had to bounce back with Catholic League Blue conference games on the horizon.

This season has taught me how to battle when I am at my lowest. It has taught me how to pick up those around me when they are not doing their best. It has taught me how to win, even if the process is ugly.