Bear River Baseball is gearing up to steal the League this year.

Baseball players around the school are preparing for the season to be in full swing starting next week. Head Varsity Coach Eric Van Patten expressed his hopes for this season.

“The hope is definitely that we’ll be in the playoffs again, and I think that’s just a standard that we want to set for our athletes every year,” he said. “The hope is that the guys will have a really great, positive experience. Like, they can look back on that in years past when they’re away from this place and they go ‘that was just fun, to be on that team.’”

Coach Van Patten also spoke about how the death of Bruin Pitcher Joe Rantz will affect the season.

“My immediate hope is that we get a chance to honor Joe Rantz well this season, and I think we’ve got a lot of great things planned for his memory and to carry that ‘Joe Juice’ all the way through,” he said.

Senior Outfielder Justin Dooley talked about what he thinks will happen this season.

“Well, I think we’re gonna do pretty good,” he said. “I think if we stay together, keep a strong team, if we rely on our coach, I think we got a chance. We’re gonna quench League.”

Another senior, Jared Van Vlack, expressed the hardships that are going to come with the start of a new season.

“I think there’s gonna be a lot of guys out there, so it’s gonna be rough at the start, getting our team together and getting a solid foundation.”

Junior Johnny Calleri, an outfielder, noted this season’s differences from previous years.

“I’d say I’m decently ready,” he said. “This season is definitely going to be different, for sure, but I think as a team we’re gonna pull together. I think we’re gonna do pretty good if we can focus.”

Coach Van Patten emphasized what the team hopes to do versus other teams this season.

“I’m just hoping that we can really compete well enough to give our opponents that are in our league a run for their money,” he said. “They’ll know that we were there at their yard that day.”