Kristi Studts

Juniors, Jackson Duncan and Lukas Middleton were two of the Viper Varsity baseball players who dyed their hair blond.

The boys are going… blond? In honor of making the state tournament, the Verrado baseball team has decided to dye their hair blond. Why, you may ask? Senior Samuel Hess said they decided to participate in this superstition to boost team morale/chemistry and bring the team closer going into the playoffs. Additionally, Senior Ranger Knudson was asked about blond hair.

“We had a couple of kids here and there. Me, Braxton, Lukas started up the idea. Then everyone just jumped on board with it.” He said, when asked about what other color they would’ve chosen if not blond, Knudson said pink would have been another choice.

We talked with head coach Andrew Garcia about what he expects from his team from an expectations and mentality standpoint. “As long as we compete and we continue to do what we’ve been doing in the second half of the season, we should be in good shape.” 

Despite ending the season on a 3 game losing skid, the games that were losses were against tough opponents which ended up being competitive games. “As long as we keep up with that same type of competition and keep that same mentality, we should be fine,” Garcia added.

The coach was also asked why he didn’t dye his hair blond with the other kids. “My hair wasn’t made for that color.” Garcia said, jokingly. 

We asked coach Prinz, the pitching coach, his thoughts on whether he thinks the most crucial step in preparing for a playoff game is mentality and what he expects out of his pitchers. “I think mindset is crucial for anything in life whether you’re playing a sport or preparing for a test. The mind always has to be on the task at hand.” “What I’m expecting them to do is to just keep doing what they’ve been doing. Our biggest challenge is keeping the mindset that we need to execute when we’re ahead in the count.” 

 The Vipers will have their Ace, Braxton Bjur, on the mound who is ranked 6th in the 5A conference for strikeouts. We were able to get an interview with him and have him relay his thoughts on pitching in a game such as this. “Obviously, there’s a little bit of anticipation for it. I wanna keep the seniors playing for as long as possible,”

The Vipers have confidence they can come out on top. The playoffs are a whole different type of animal where anything can happen. Verrado finished the season 8-4 in their region and 10-8 overall which earned them a spot to compete in the state tournament. When asked about the mentality that he has, this is what Junior 1B Bode Acton had to say.

“Only the top 24 teams in 5A make it, it definitely builds pride within our team, and that we just gotta compete and do our best. Not everyone gets in so it’s an honor.” Well said words from the Junior.

In his first season, head coach Andrew Garcia has led the varsity boys to yet another state tournament appearance which is a good sign that Verrado won’t be away from the tournament anytime soon given the talent they have. If things keep trending in the right direction with him, I’d say that it won’t be long before Verrado are crowned 5A State Champions once again.