Irish Insights: Irish Baseball begins with young team, new coach

With a couple scrimmages behind them, Irish baseball is gearing up for its season with the addition of new coach Grant Ledbetter. 

Having lost 11 players since last season, Ledbetter said there is “really not a lot of game time experience” among the returners.

“We’ve had three or four that had significant playing time last year, so we’re in the middle as far as youth goes,” Ledbetter added.

Still, Ledbetter said he believes many on his team are eager to prove themselves after a long preseason. 

“We've tested them physically and we've tested them emotionally,” the coach said, “and I know that they are being put through and asked to do a whole lot more than they've been asked at times in the past, and they're not letting it break them.”

In particular, he mentioned freshman Gehrig Lair as an underclassman to watch.

“He's already had a couple outings, pitching in some of our scrimmages and done real well and proven that we can trust him with the ball in his hand,” Ledbetter said.

Though he is new to the school, Ledbetter said he has already seen resilience in the team.

“I just think that there's been a huge amount of buy-in from guys, and I think we've had three or four scrimmages already, and just the investment that they've, they've made over the offseason in the weight room is really kind of surfacing itself,” Ledbetter said.

As a new high school coach with “a pretty young roster,” Ledbetter hopes to continue building on what the team has created in preseason preparation.

“I don't know how good we're going to be, I don't know how many wins we're going to have,” he said, “but I think the pieces are being put in place, and they're doing a good job of building the culture that can sustain itself.”

Juniors prepare with career research
In the weeks leading up to spring break, junior English teacher Genieve Pezalski’s classes have been working on career research projects helping students to develop professional skills and begin college research.

After reaching out to different professionals within the community, and researching their career of choice, students give a presentation discussing the job, all while dressed according to their career. Later, they have the opportunity to attend a career workshop with different university and vocational representatives.

Though many attend a university after graduation, Pezalski designed the project to help students prepare for all potential possibilities.

“Even if they don't go to college, everyone's going to have some kind of a job, some kind of a career, and I want them to start thinking about it and thinking about that process,” Pezalski said.

For those who do plan to attend college, the project is meant to help students consider their options.

“I think if you know what career you want, then that should help shape what college you go to, because you need to go to the college that best suits that major, that degree,” Pezalski said.

In addition to post-graduation preparation, the project helps students to develop professional skills.

“This might be the first time that they have had a conversation with somebody that they're not directly related to, or that they are maybe not a teacher,” Pezalski said.

In facilitating the project, Pezalski said she is grateful for the Irish community’s support.

“I love the way that our Catholic community, our Irish community kind of jumps in and gives of their time and their talents to be able to help our students,” Pezalski said.

Swim teams wrap up seasons
Facing more than 20 teams, the Irish girls and boys finished seventh and fourth, respectively, at the state swim meet concluding what coach Mark Veneklasen said was a successful season. 

Sophomore Camryn Kanaly won both the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke, defending her title in the medley and improving from last year’s second place finish in the backstroke. Having been in either the pool or weight room daily, Kanaly said the wins felt “very gratifying.”

“It felt really good,” she said. “I put a lot of work in. I work out every single day pretty much. I don't really take recovery days.”

With two more state wins under her belt, Kanaly reflected on her outlook for next season.

“I think I'll be a lot more positive and confident going into the season with the knowledge that what I've been doing is working, and so I can continue doing what I'm doing,” Kanaly said.

For the boys, John Nguyen placed second in the 100 breaststroke.

“It went better than I expected,” Nguyen said. “I set a school record in the 100 breaststroke, and I helped set records in two relays.

“I think the team actually did pretty good. We, a lot of us, set new personal records. For example, my little brother, he did really well. He cut five seconds from the beginning of the season. He almost broke the school record.”