![Junior Diya Arun stares out a window. For Arun, the winter season brings out the holiday blues. “ I think [the winter] has a negative effect on my mental health because I feel like the cold weather and people around me are also sadder [and] that affects me,” Arun said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_8047-1200x800.jpg)
![French teacher Marieme Toure serves a plate of the Senegalese food she prepared for her AP French Language and Culture class, to senior Faiza Syed. “I never had Senegalese food before,” Syed said. “I thought it was so cool that she was able to bring a part of her culture [and] background to us.”](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0798-1200x906.jpeg)
![The Phoenix varsity volleyball team lines up for the national anthem. “We were more communicative [with each other] during this game, and I feel like we kept our energy up, especially after the first set,” senior Jessica Valdov said.](https://theblazerrhs.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/DSC_0202-1200x800.jpg)
While both softball and baseball have similar goals and concepts, including getting to home base and the various positions played, there are many differences between the two sports. For example, pitching styles differ between the sports. Baseball pitching styles include the overhand, three-quarter, sidearm, and submarine. Softball, on the other hand, has a wider variety of pitches such as two-seam fastball, changeup, curveball, and many more.
On March 19, the Phoenix softball and baseball teams competed against the Lightridge Lightning, with the Lightning taking home both wins. The softball team fell to the Lightning with a mercy rule of 20-1 and the Lightning baseball team won 15-0.
Softball
The softball game started with both teams fighting for the win. The Phoenix girls hustled to keep the Lightning opponents from getting any home runs. However, the pressure of the game can often get in the way of the team dynamic. Senior Bennett Koch says it can be intimidating being on the field in the heat of the game. “It’s scary because everything is on you and these girls come out really strong and know exactly what they’re doing, but you’re just a baby,” Koch said. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”
Even though the softball game resulted in a loss, freshman pitcher Lily Omo believes the team will get better with practice as the season progresses. “I think it’s about everybody showing up to practice and trying their best,” Omo said. “I think by the end of the season we’ll have a lot more improvement. We have a lot of new people and it’s hard trying to teach this sport and play against people who have been playing their whole lives.”
Baseball
Like softball, the baseball team didn’t get the results they were looking for out of the game. However, the loss didn’t stop the team from taking it as a lesson. Senior first-baseman Paul Smith found that there are some things that both the team, as well as himself, could improve on. However, Smith likes to focus on went well. “Our pitching is pretty good, we need to keep hitting better and our defense is still consistently pretty good,” Smith said.
Throughout practice every day, the team spends two to three hours with pitching and fielding. They use the rest of their practice for hitting, demonstrating their dependable and persistent skills with batting on home plate at games.
Overall, both teams had good and bad moments throughout both games, but it was the Lightning teams that took home the victories.
