Athletes of West – Braidan McGrath
Sam Mouser and Ryder Williams
• March 2, 2026
![Pitching the ball on Apr. 14, senior Henry Wild and his team play against Belleville East. Wild was named scholar athlete of the year by St. Louis Post-Dispatch after maintaining a high cumulative GPA and staying involved with athletics for all of high school. “It’s an amazing honor. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to represent my school [and] what [it] stands for,” Wild said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/unnamed-6-1200x714.jpg)
![Putting on his helmet, catcher and senior Tommy Eschbach prepares to get in his primary stance. Despite losing 6-1 against Eureka on April 16, Eschbach didn’t let the tough loss affect his playing or mental health. “It's [so] easy to get caught up in the sport and what you're doing that [after] one bad game or a stretch of games it is hard to remind yourself that your worth as a person isn't directly related to your performance on the field,” Eschbach said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/DSC_0415-1-1-1200x800.jpg)
![“I’ve been playing baseball since I was four. The MLB inspired me to play, [but] my dad is my biggest inspiration. He's very respectful and very hardworking. He taught me to stick close to your friends who will help you achieve your goals and not get in the way of them. Baseball has made me grow with the way I start friendships. It's helped me grow [more with] athletic performances and how I accomplish things throughout life. Friendships play a big part in baseball, [especially] when you’ve been playing on the same team since you were a kid. It was really nice playing with the same people because I really got an understanding of who they are and how they play the game. You also get to see how they grow athletically and mentally over time. I formed friendships with those people I spent most of my time with and it was hard to leave that team, it’s like I left a family. [My goal for this season] is to lead my team and to have a really good record. I’ve already built relationships with my teammates through classes and just hanging outside of school.” - Isaac Sinak, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_0119-1200x800.jpg)
![Senior Henry Dittmar celebrates his 18th birthday in recovery from a drive-by shooting that left him seriously injured. During this birthday, Dittmar was still unable to walk from the effects of a bullet that ripped through his calf. "The most challenging part of this experience was being patient with everything," Dittmar said. "Building that patience was definitely the best thing for me, [because] I am definitely not a very patient person. I learned a lot about myself during this experience."](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Untitled-design-9-900x506.png)
![“I was looking forward to my freshman year since this is my favorite sport and I was [just coming back from being] out for two weeks because of a stress fracture on my foot. During practice my arm started to hurt to the point where the coach started to notice so I started to take it easy a bit. A few days later I had a freshman game and during warm up I was throwing the ball and my elbow dropped and broke so I had to get surgery. I’m upset because I have worked hard to get to this point and now I won’t be able to play for all of the West season and probably summer ball. It’s been really helpful having my team support me while I still go and support them. It just really sucks because I feel like I would be playing my position [often], but now I'm not playing at all so it's just all over now.” - Ethan Brookshire, 9](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DSC_9019-copy-900x600.jpg)
![“I’m passionate about school and baseball and have faced many challenges in both. With school last semester, my science class was very difficult, I felt like I had to learn the [lessons] by myself. And with baseball, when I was in seventh grade, I sprained my elbow pitching. I felt sad that I couldn’t play, but I learned how much having an injury can suck. My dad is the most influential person to me, he has taught me to work hard in order to reach my goals in baseball, school, and life. In my freshman year, I only got one B, it felt very good because I worked hard and it paid off. [I’m motivated] to do well in school, so that I can make good money when I come out of college and retire early. Right now, Rose Hulman sounds like a good college to help me reach those goals. The school has a good engineering [program], and I could play baseball there. In the future I want to be able to relax, provide for my kids and play with my dogs," -Colin Hughes, 10](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IMG-7573-900x694.jpg)
![The narrow lens contrasts with a diverse reality; whitewashing means altering or concealing something to make it more appealing to white people. The word “whitewashed” as it is used today has caused identity crises for thousands, if not millions, of students. “I have been called whitewashed before, and it feels very sad. [It’s] just hard because it makes me not know who I am. You don’t get a lot of backlash for [saying it], so I think it’s a throwaway term for people who aren’t affected by it. When you are the person [who] is being called whitewashed, over time, it builds up,” sophomore Raaga Golla said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/IMG_5740-1-300x200.jpg)
![Two of Pathfinder’s most recent editorial accolades shine on display in journalism teacher Lindsey Katz’s room. Pathfinder was recognized as a SNO Distinguished Site on April 24. “Praise isn’t everything, but it feels so nice to see the hard work of our staff recognized. So much more than just writing words on a page occurs [in journalism], and I am so glad people see that. I love being surrounded by such talented writers, but also such great people,” editor-in-chief and junior Payton Dean said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DSC_4941-300x200.jpg)
![There are more than 20 open cardio machines at Crunch Fitness. I enjoyed the spacious environment at Crunch, a sentiment that was shared by sophomore Sanjana Daggubati. “[Going to] Crunch Fitness was the right decision because [it] feels more professional. Crunch’s workers are laid back, but not to the point where they don't care,” Daggubati said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/IMG_5242-1-300x225.jpg)
![Setting up the activity for his first meeting, Financial Literacy Club founder and sophomore Yash Bandiananthaiah writes on the whiteboard. For the first meeting, Bandiananthaiah created an interactive experience for members to immerse themselves in. “To me, the most important thing during a meeting is to make sure we are all engaged and participating, and [I do this by] always making sure we have a hands-on activity,” Bandiananthaiah said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC5306-1200x798.jpg)
![Hand raised into the air, senior Lauren Anstrom watches as her graduation cap flies along with the caps of all her peers. Anstrom hopes to leave behind the legacy as someone who was kind, hardworking, and always supportive of others. “Tossing my graduation cap honestly felt surreal. In that moment, everything hit me at once with all the excitement, relief and a little sadness too. It felt really emotional [because] this was the end of such a big chapter of my life, but also exciting knowing that everyone was about to start a completely new journey,” Anstrom said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_3031-Enhanced-NR-2-1200x800.jpg)
![French teacher Blair Hopkins enters City Coffee & Creperie in Clayton, Mo. for breakfast with her Honors French 4 students and AP French 5 students. Both classes went on a field trip to a fair trade chocolate factory in St. Louis to begin their unit on Côte D’Ivoire, a major producer of cocoa beans. “My ideal school would just be the Magic School Bus — you would always learn about things by going someplace and learning hands-on, being able to see it yourself and asking people questions. I think [learning is] always so much more memorable if you can experience it firsthand,” Hopkins said.](https://pwestpathfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC2795-1200x798.jpg)