Baseball team gives up losing for Lent 

As a long baseball season draws near, many players have one goal in mind: making it downstate. Over the past few years, the MC baseball team has only gotten better, and they want to win now more than ever. Head Coach Brian Hurry, after coming up short against Providence last year, has promised the school he won’t let this team, or this school down.

So on Ash Wednesday, each and every baseball player committed to giving up losing. In addition to their lack of meat, they were determined to never let themselves lose during this 40-day period.

While this might have seemed like a good idea on paper for the actual baseball games, many players did not consider how many times they “lose” per day. Getting cut off in traffic, walking by Mr. Tim Baffoe without an ID on, being second to class instead of first, or simply getting a question wrong on a test.

Many athletes are driving themselves to exhaustion, forcing themselves to be the best of the best in any situation. 

“I feel like I can’t make any mistakes now,” said junior Connor Elenteny, a Notre Dame commit and star pitcher., “I’ve always had a drive to do well, but now that I’ve given up losing, I can’t even work out; if I do, I lose weight. If I don’t work out though, then I won’t be strong enough to win, which means I’ll lose. It’s a paradox.” 

Connor speaks for the team when he expresses his confusion and struggle.However, teachers have been enjoying the new hardworking spirit of the team. 

“The boys seem like they want to be the best now more than ever,” said Mrs. Jennifer Smola, math teacher and NHS moderator. “It’s honestly reassuring, because I thought some of these kids were lost causes. But they continue to surprise me when they get ever-increasing grades. The power of Lent, religion, and old-fashioned elbow grease never ceases to amaze me.” 

She is far from the only teacher to feel this way. Even regular students have felt the power of the Lenten promise in their classes with Coach  Hurry, who is also a teacher of Chicago History. 

“We actually had a homework assignment today,” said a student from his class who asked to remain anonymous. “I took this class because I really wanted to learn more about Chicago, and I’m really thankful we’re actually doing that now instead of talking about third base and catcher’s signals every class.”

With a busy season, the baseball team won’t have a break as they play multiple games per week. If they lose even one game, there is potential for the whole team to fall apart. 

“Similar to a New Year's resolution, it can be psychologically difficult for people to pick themselves back up after failing to maintain their goals,” explained Mr. John O’Connor, AP Psychology teacher. “I just hope that if they fail, they can try again no matter what. I have faith in our program.”

With the wrestling team and basketball team coming up short in their state series runs, the baseball team is the last hope for students to get a day off.