![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Boys’ baseball loses 4-10 to Jefferson High School on senior night
3) The seniors stand together to take a group photo on their last game. Boy’s baseball held their senior night on Thursday, May 7.
Boys’ baseball lost to Jefferson High school 4-10 at the senior night game while playing in the rain at the Blackford campus on Thursday, May 7 with runs batted in by Dominic Cea (9), Miles DeWitt (11) and Kedar Gupta (10). The Eagles maintained a 4-1 lead until the third inning, but during the fourth, fell behind 4-5 and for the remainder of the game. They also held a ceremony to honor the graduating seniors on the team.
During the ceremony, each senior player was honored and given flowers to present to their parents. Students, parents and faculty came to applaud the seniors and watch the final game of the season. After the ceremony, the players took pictures with their parents and began warming up before the game started.
“I think the seniors, many of them, were on the team for a very long time, so they’re very familiar with the culture of the team and maybe more so than previous years,” David Lin (12) said. “They do a very good job of making baseball more than just a sport. They do a very good job of making everyone feel welcome, making it a very lively and enjoyable event for everyone on the team.”
Head Coach Mike Delfino reflects on the departure of the seniors and the transition to next year’s season.
“I think we’re a very young team. We started four freshmen at times and a couple of sophomores, and they just got better day to day defensively, [at] hitting the ball and in pretty much all areas,” Delfino said. “You could really see the improvement in the last month of the season.”
Miles DeWitt (11), one of the co-captains for the team, shares what the team can improve on.
“[We’re] just trying to get better everyday and not showing up flat and trying to be more focused,” Miles said. “I think we all work hard; we all want to be really good. I feel sad because the seniors are a great help to us and they teach us things.”
Although he did not play in the game on Thursday, right-field player Bobby Schick (9) comments on the seniors’ influence on the team as a whole.
“I just think that the seniors are some of the most powerful players on our team because even the seniors that are sitting on the bench and don’t play a ton, they’re the most energetic people on the bench,” he said. “They always get everyone to talk and that’s probably some of the reason why we win some of the games because of the energy they have.”
Despite the loss, the players still kept a positive outlook towards their performance during the game.
“I think on the whole our pitchers did a good job, our defense did a good job of supporting them and overall, we were very happy with the event even though we didn’t get the outcome that we wanted,” David said.
This year, the graduating seniors are co-captain Keanu Forbes, Steven Wang, Jonathan Lee, David Lin, Ayush Midha, Neil Sadhu and Arya Kaul. They will be studying at San Jose City College, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Boston University and UC San Diego respectively.
The new captains of the team will be decided at the beginning of their next season.
“It’s never easy to replace seniors. This was a good group in terms of their attitude and effort, but we are excited about the young guys because the young guys played a lot this year so the transition should be a little smoother than it normally is,” Delfino said. “I think that [they] should be able to, with a year of experience behind them, really step into some roles, contribute a lot and do a nice job.”
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