Kocot, Flachs leading by example

South Hadley High School athletes are ready for spring sports and are feeling the pressure to win a championship. Seniors Nate Flachs and Merry Kocots have been putting in the effort for their varsity team.

Nate Flachs has been playing baseball since first grade and made four years of varsity playing pitcher and center fielder. Flachs said confidently that the baseball team is “going to win a state title because there are less division one teams.” The team had lost five senior last year that had helpful, strong talent. Flachs said “ We go out for team breakfast for bonding”. Flachs’ favorite sport is soccer and baseball and he is going to play them at Salve Regina University. The baseball team is doing well this year they are 7-3, but they do have some weaknesses Flachs said they need to work on hitting, pitching, and fielding in order to improve. Before each game the team is together doing warm ups and stretching.

Merry Kocot has been playing softball since kindergarten and does first base and catches sometimes. Kocots thinks the team will do well this season and are facing division one opponents. The teams record so far this season is 3-8. Even though the softball team lost a good group of seniors including a pitcher the team brought up two freshmen. Kocot said that the teams strengths are that they’re close and connect as a team, so they know how each other play. some weaknesses are that “its a little too goofy and we need to focus more during practice” said Kocot. The softball team does team dinners and other activities. Some of her pre game rituals are getting prepared for the game like listening to music and being at the field early for the game. Even though Kocot plays softball her favorite sport field hockey in the fall. Kocot got accepted into six of her colleges to do physical therapy and hasn’t decided if she is going to continue sports next year.