Mind over matter: Boys baseball braves mental game despite tough loss to Kenyon-Wanamingo

Elizabeth Tuttle, Staff Writer • April 25, 2024

Schwab-Mahoney strives for success mentally

“Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical,” baseball legend Yogi Berra said. Often, when thinking about sports, a spectator regards the tangible aspect of an athlete, their physical attributes and athleticism, as more valuable than traits that are invisible to the eye. An athlete’s mental toughness, for example, is rarely considered by spectators to be influential to an athlete’s performance. Confidence, concentration, and cooperation when paired with positive self-talk are just as valuable to an athletic performance as athleticism and skill.

Griffin Schwab-Mahoney, a senior and returning captain accredits the baseball team’s success to the mental side of the game. His ultimate goal is for the team to get to the state tournament, and he believes that will not happen without positive self-talk and an inclusive team culture.

To achieve his goals, Schwab-Mahoney leads by example. It’s important the players are “staying motivated during practices, working hard and when it comes to be game time, really locking it in, instead of messing around in the dugout,” he said. When faced with adversity, he tries to keep himself and the team motivated about baseball, even though keeping mental morale can get boring sometimes.

Boys baseball was dressed in navy tops and white pants with sunglasses atop eyeblack. The team looked invincible.

Until they weren’t.

On Friday, April 12 the Boys Varsity Baseball team lined up for their second match of the 2024 season; a home game versus Kenyon-Wanamingo, resulting in a 0-11 loss.

When the game started, SPA was on defense, and Kenyon Wanamingo was at bat. The two teams seemed evenly matched. After the first inning, Kenyon Wanamingo had scored three points to SPA’s zero. Following the second inning, the score was 0-5; the opposing team had scored two more runs while SPA still wasn’t on the scoreboard.

“

No matter what swing you have, if you come up there with confidence and gusto and just go up there knowing you’re gonna hit the ball then you’ll perform for sure.

— Johnny Christakos

Captain Johnny Christakos explains how a player’s mentality affects his performance. “[Baseball] is a big-time mental game. I was just talking to my teammate, Sam Zakaib, and we were discussing the approach at the plate and how the mentality is 90% of it” Christakos said. “No matter what swing you have, if you come up there with confidence and gusto and just go up there knowing you’re gonna hit the ball then you’ll perform for sure.”

The tide changed in the third inning. The team managed to keep the opposition down to zero home runs. Coach Rob Thompson had made the executive decision to switch some players from the outfield to the infield. Most notably, he switched sophomore Ben Sieben from center fielder to shortstop. Sieben made a clutch play that helped the team abbreviate the inning.

Both Christakos and Schwab-Mahoney commend the pitching rotation. “The pitcher [is] basically the one that controls the game. The wheel is in his hands, so pitching is a big time but so far guys are showing out.” Christakos said.

The pitching rotation is “a lot better than previous years,” Schwab-Mahoney said. He also believes a team’s pitching rotation is key to baseball. Schwab-Mahoney explained that “If [the] pitcher can pitch well throw strikes and stay positive, that can keep [the] defense positive, and that’ll really help translate to [the] offense.” Sticking with a good mindset, “If [the team] can get one run going, [he thinks] it’ll keep a positive influence on the team and give [them] a good run.”

Following the loss, Coach Rob Thompson added a morning practice the next day. Thompson’s coaching philosophy involves lots of repetition and tons of hard work. He believes that players will not improve unless they devote themselves to getting better.

The game was a tough loss, yet the team believes that with positivity, anything is possible in the rest of the season.

The team hosts Providence Academy on Thursday, April 25. The team’s next away game is Monday, April 29 at Providence Academy.

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