![“[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)
Varsity boys baseball loses to San Mateo High at home
Nate Kelly (10) lunges forward in preparation to throw a pitch during the second inning. Nate was one of three Sophomores to pitch during the game, alongside Akhil Arun and Dominic Cea.
March 8, 2016
Boys baseball lost to San Mateo High School 3-12 in five innings at 4 p.m. at the Blackford campus today. The game was cut short of its usual seven innings due to bad weather conditions.
The boys were up 3-2 at the end of the fourth inning, but San Mateo High School came back to score nine points in the fifth inning.
Third baseman and pitcher Varun Haltore (11) commented on the comeback of the other team.
“For the first four innings, it was really close. We kept trading the lead back and forth, and then they just got some key hits and they just took the lead.”
Sophomore Tanay Kamat, who plays first base, spoke to the strength and resilience of the opposing team.
[The other team] is good,” Tanay said. “They’re a good hitting team. Even though they were down they still came back and won in the late innings.”
Outfielder Trenton Thomas (12) noted small mistakes that were made by the team that allowed San Mateo to take the lead.
Trenton Thomas (12) watches his ball after striking it with his bat during the second inning. The boys were tied 1-1 at the second inning.
“There were a lot of mistakes that added up together. Every batter made a couple of overthrows, a couple of under throws, and our pitchers were throwing strikes. There were a couple of walks though, but really just a lot of things added up,” he said.
Head coach Mike Delfino talks about how the team plans to move forward and their goals for the rest of the season.
“[Our goal is to] keep getting better every day,” he said. “Compete, compete, compete; that’s our motto. So as long as we just get a little better, we’re a very young team, 16 out of the 20 are Freshmen or Sophomores, so we just want to get better and more experienced everyday.
The team travels to San Francisco on Thursday to compete against Jefferson High School.
