The Trinity Hillers baseball team is swinging for the fences, hoping to achieve a successful 2021 season. Thus far, their record stands at three wins and six losses, with one of the wins being a non-section game.

Like every sport at this point in time, COVID-19 protocols have been put into place in order to safely play and spectate the games. Masks must be worn at all times by players in the dugout and spectators in the stands; social distancing is in effect as well. Consol Energy Center, also known as the Wild-Things stadium, the stadium where Trinity baseball home-games are played, is operated with a limited seating capacity as well, with sanitation stations located around the stadium.

This season, the baseball team is partially composed of a whopping number of eight seniors: Eric Cole, Ben Hardy, Forrest Havanis, Chad Johnson, Brent Kurtz, Brandon Robaugh, Kyle VonScio and Colin Zaken. 

Kurtz, Havanis, Robaugh and Johnson all have leadership qualities that led to them being recognized as team captains this season. 

“I would consider the four captains, Brent [Kurtz], Brandon [Robaugh], Chad [Johnson] and Forrest [Havanis] to be the leaders. They have been on Varsity the longest and are deserving of the captain role,” regarded Senior Kyle VonScio.

As previously mentioned, the team’s record thus far is three wins and six losses, though their competition has been tough. 

“We have seen some great pitching thus far and have not been able to put any runs together. Our team has lots of talent and I think one of the best senior classes that Trinity has had in a long time. We will be extremely dangerous when our bats come around and we start playing as a team. We will be making some noise this year,” said Kurtz. 

Go out and support the Trinity baseball team and cheer on the seniors for this will be a season to remember!

Along with Trinity’s baseball season starting, the Pittsburgh Pirates have started their 2021 season as well. Their record thus far is three and seven – three wins and seven losses – during their regular season games. Their spring training record is twelve wins, fifteen losses and two games resulted in a tie. 

PNC Park, the Pirate’s home stadium, is also operating by COVID-19 protocols in order to maintain the safety of both the players and the spectators. Masks must be worn at all times by players in the dugout and people in the stands. PNC park is operating by a limited seating capacity, mask mandate (masks that cover the nose and mouth and hook around the ears are the only masks allowed), touch-less payment, digital tickets and various cleaning protocols. Touchless payment includes putting cash into a “reverse ATM,” which returns a prepaid mastercard with the amount of money entered in the ATM.

 Masks must be worn at all times except when eating and drinking, masks may be pulled down but must be pulled back up above the nose after consumption. Digital tickets are simply tickets ordered from ticket provider websites that will be shown at the entrance of the park in order to be admitted.

The Pirates acquired a new team manager, Derek Shelton, for their 2021 season and beyond. He has evaluated the Pirates’ abilities within their last season and the beginning of this season in order to pin-point exactly what they need to improve on in order to have a successful season ahead of them. The Pirates are made up of a fairly new roster, with many young faces.

“The exciting thing is, we have a bunch of guys that are going to have an opportunity to impact the Pirates. I’m ready to start. I’m ready to see the people we’ve acquired. I’m ready to see our young group. I’m ready for competition and opportunity from the young group we have coming back. That’s what gets me excited,” Shelton said in an interview with TribLive regarding his anticipation for starting this season with the Pirates.