The WMS Warriors baseball team won the championship last week in Woodbridge Township against Colonia.
Coach Olvesen, the baseball coach and STEM teacher at WMS, is known as someone that makes sure all the players are calm and the lineup is made before the game starts. He explained that fun is a big part of WMS’s game plan, “My mindset before the game is to make the players feel like they are having fun.”
Coach Olvesen said that when the WMS baseball team is down, he “tries to bring everybody in and take down all the pressure of the players and say quotes to hype up the players.”
He continued to explain his philosophy on coaching, saying “that to bring the team’s stress level down [he reminds] them that they have been playing baseball their whole life, and that [he] has confidence in them.”
Dylan Fiore, is an 8th starter on the WMS baseball team. Fiore stole home to win the championship game. He explained what was going through his head when going to steal home, “I can’t get out because it was all depending on me in the championship for us to win the game.” Lastly, he also said, “I’m either safe or I’m either out.”
Jack Kobylokiewicz, 8th grade starter for the championship, threw three innings of one run baseball to lead the Warriors to victory. He explained how he blocks out the noise. He said he focuses while pitching and keeps the crowd “out of [his] head” so he doesn’t get distracted.
Josh Lias is a 7th grade student at WMS and a 1st baseman on the baseball team. He said that to calm his nerves he listens to music to get hyped for the game. Also, he said, “It’s you and the pitcher you can zone in and watch the ball.”
When asked about the difference between being a 7th and 8th grader, Lias said it’s harder to be a 7th grader than being an 8th grader on the team because they played last year and it’s new for all the 7th graders. Lastly, he said his favorite memory is hitting the ball off Dylan Stephen, starting pitcher, in practice.
Brian Dwyer, 8th grader and center fielder, explained that the pregame warm ups are important to performance in the game saying that his pregame warmup consists of infield-outfield, and throwing the ball between other team players.
Then he also explained how to soothe his nerves by taking deep breaths. He also speaks to himself saying, “It’s not a big deal, I’m just here to have fun.” Next, When he’s at bat he just tries to focus on hitting the ball like it’s just him and the pitcher.
Dwyer said it’s easier to be a 8th grader than a 7th grader on the baseball team because he had a chance to play last year so he already knows how it is. Lastly, his favorite memory from the season is being undefeated.
