BY ARIEL KIRKPATRICK

The Varsity Baseball team went to the district championships last year, but now the seniors are determined to start off the season good for their last year at FHN.

“It’s my senior year,” second baseman Kevin Hanke said. “It’s probably going to be my last time playing with the team.”

The team already had the taste of what’s it like to win. They had 19 wins and 12 losses last year, and they will have the opportunity to try and improve that record.

“They have the ability to see what it’s like to go to the championship,” assistant coach Matthew Riffee said. “They got to taste what it’s like to win, and they can do it again.”

The team goals are to win conference and see if they can play to their full potential by getting their minds set on each game.

“First to win conference,” center-fielder Yoon Jae Nam said. “We’ll see where that takes us.”

Even though they were in the championship game last year, the players feel they will do even better this year.

“This year will be different because we have different mind sets,” shortstop Braxton Martinez said. “We all want to go out there to win.”

However, the players are expecting to face challenges when playing FHC and FHHS.

“Anyone out of the GAC conference [will be a challenge] because two or three of the teams are ranked in Missouri, but our biggest rival is Howell,” Riffee said.

The seniors on the team say they have changed a lot since freshman year.

“I think we all have matured a lot from freshman year and became a lot smarter about the game,” Martinez said.

According to Martinez, the coaches shouldn’t change anything about the baseball program.

“I don’t think they should change anything,” Martinez said. “It’s a Howell North tradition to go out on those fields to win.”

The teams is now preparing for their first game against Windsor on Friday, March 16.

“Don’t settle for anything because you can always go farther,” Martinez said. “You can help out the team by helping yourself.”