Varsity baseball ended the season last Saturday with a 6-0 loss against Parkway North, finishing the year with an (8-18) overall record. The season was full of ups and downs, but the Longhorns hit stride going into districts. In the final six games, the team had three impressive wins over University City, Hazelwood West, and Fort Zummwalt West.

“As a team, we realized if we didn’t do something about the direction of the season, then it was going to be a miserable one. That motivated us to string together a couple of quality wins heading into districts,” senior Infielder Johnny Galvin said.

Galvin led the team in hits (25), on base percentage (455), runs (15) and average (342). His average put him among the conference leaders in that category.

The Longhorns were led by first year head coach, Tony McNabb.

“The team struggled early in the season with consistent defense, pitching and timely hitting. Our players worked hard to overcome these early struggles to finish as a united and gritty team,” McNabb said.

A memorable moment for sophomore Evan Shukers was when the Longhorns beat the Suburban South Conference champions, the Seckman Jaguars.

“This was the turning point of the season when we beat Seckman 10-4 at their field. We believed after this game that we could compete with any team out there. It really gave us a lot of confidence and allowed us to finish the season strong,” Shukers said.

Of the 15 players on the roster, ten of them were seniors. Senior Outfielder Clifford Chi committed to play baseball at DePauw University in Indiana. Chi was a two year varsity starter for the longhorns.

“Over the years, West baseball has taught me how a team can overcome adversity to unite as one family. I am excited in being able to continue my playing career at DePauw University, but I will never forget where it started,” Chi said.

Another senior Outfielder, Sam Vickroy, signed his letter of intent to play baseball at the University of Indianapolis next spring.

“Since this year wasn’t easy, it took contributions from everyone to fix it. This is something that had been missing in previous seasons,” Vickroy said.

Next year, the team has three juniors and two seniors returning.

“All of the preparation for next year begins in the offseason. We have to keep improving one day at a time, especially by getting in the weight room,” sophomore Infielder Matt Blake said.

Despite the loss of 10 varsity players, the team has a pool of junior varsity and freshman players who are potentials for competing at a varsity level in upcoming seasons.

“The future is very bright for the program as we will return key varsity players on defense and offense.  We also have a lot of young arms that will be able to compete for innings on the mound,” McNabb said.