The 2023 baseball season for Osbourn is underway, and the exciting season has plenty more to come around for great times and for a great season. The team is held by 17 players on the roster and all ready for action. The team is coached by 5 coaches with the head coach being Andrew Haden.

The team works together and has good team bonding as well, some new players to baseball are still learning and experiencing the new game being played for the first time. It’s really important to keep this bonding alive during the season to keep players motivated to excel and to make sure they play as a team to meet those goals. “My goal for this season is for the team to collaborate together as a team and to work hard every game that we play until the end of the season, and to get better when hitting in games,” said Jaxson Burke.

There are many games to look forward to this season for many players. “I am looking forward to the Osbourn Park game this season the most,” said Reed Wilsher.

As a player, it can be hard to work up to max potential and takes hard work to complete, and with high school baseball that can help very much. “I want to get better by keep playing hard in the games and really focus on what I need to work on to help the team out when needed,” said Llenell Evans.

Along with players, coaches have their goals and want to have success through the season and they have a big role to play during the season. “My goal for this season is that I want the baseball program to represent the school, their families, and the city in the best way possible. As a team, I always want us to exceed expectations. I want our players to improve from where they started on Day 1,” said head coach Andrew Haden.

Along with the team bonding, the coaches and the way they coach the game of baseball help the players out a lot even the players who are new to the game. The way they show, explain, and demonstrate plays helps out our team so much for preparation, and their coaching techniques play a huge role in the baseball organization.

As part of the Osbourn baseball team myself, I can see and tell that our team is improving every single day, in games and practices.

So far this season there have been 15 games held here at Osbourn. They played the Hilton Bulldogs on 3/16/23, John Champe Knights 3/21/23, Gainesville Cardinals 3/28/23,  Patriot Pioneers 3/30/23, Liberty 4/1/23, Park View 4/3/23, Garfield 4/4/23, Alexandria city 4/5/23, and Park view 4/11/23, Unity Reed 4/12/23, Battlefield 4/14/23, Freedom 4/17/23, Osbourn Park 4/18/23, John Champe 4/20/23, Freedom 4/25/23.

The Osbourn vs Hilton game was a long one, lasting 4 hours and 30 minutes. Unfortunately, Osbourn fell short losing 20-17 in a dogfight. During the game, RJ Donahue got the start, while Aidan Kiefer, Reed and Noah Wilsher, and Lenell Evans came into relief. Reed Wilsher went 1 for 2 with 3 RBIs, Ethan Hudson went 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs and a triple, Matthew Haugh went 1 for 2 with 3 BB, Aidan Kiefer went 1 for 4 with an RBI, Jaxson Burke went 2 for 5, and Noah Wilsher went 2 for 3. So definitely some good production out of this game and more to come. And not a bad way to start the season.

Next, the game against John Champe may have not gone our way but getting feedback from coaches and the game will help prepare for the next game, Osbourn lost 15-0. During the game, RJ Donahue got the start again and pitched 4 and 1/3 of an inning with 3 K’s, while Aidan Kiefer, Lenell Evans, and Noah Wilsher came into relief. Unfortunately not much production on the hitting side for this game but there is a bounce back to come. On the defensive side, the team had a great game with a percentage of .867 out of .1000. With RJ at short, Fredrick at 3rd with Jaxson, Ethan at second, Aidan at first, Matt at catcher, Sebastian in right, Lenell in center, and Reed in left the team played great defense.

The game against Gainesville high school may have not gone our way towards the end of the game but there is always improvement that is needed. Osbourn Lost 11-1 that day on 3/28/23. Ethan Hudson threw 4 and 1/3 of an inning with 4 strikeouts and 1 run given up. Matt Haugh had a clutch RBI single in the first inning to give Osbourn the lead in the first inning. But fell short during the 5th inning which then the game ended. All in all, we learned from that game about what we need to fix going into our next game against Patriot.

On 3/30/23 Osbourn battled against the Patriot Pioneers. Osbourn lost 10-0 that day. Aidan Kiefer threw a good game throwing strikes and letting the ball be put in play for outs. Noah Wilsher also threw a lot of strikes and got some outs, as well as Llenell Evans. Aidan Kiefer went 1 for 2 with a single that day, with some nice plays in center field by Ethan Hudson. After the game we had a long talk with the coach’s about how much our team is getting better and how we need to keep getting better as a team to win some games this season.

From 4/1/23-4/5/23, Osbourn battled in the Jeff Baker Classic Spring break tournament making it all the way to the championship game on 4/5/23. Throughout the tournament, there was some exciting moments to see and some good games being played in the tournament. RJ Donahue hit the first home run of the season for the Eagles, Ethan Hudson with 25ks through 2 games, and much more.

The team leaders in stats throughout the tournament for Osbourn, Ethan Hudson with 8 hits, Etha Hudson with 25k’s 13IP, Ethan Hudson in doubles, RJ Donahue with 10 RBIs, Ethan Hudson with 7 runs, Matt Haugh with a batting average of .667, and Noah Wilsher with 4 SB. The team had a great tournament together and is looking forward to games in the future.

Also, Ethan won O chain player of the game on 4/1/23, RJ Donahue won the O chain player of the game on 4/3/23, and Matt Haugh won O chain player of the game on 4/4/23. Coach was really proud of the team after this long tournament and had some good words to say. “I am so proud of every single one of you from this tournament and let’s bounce back this next week,” said Coach Haden.

On 4/11/23 Osbourn played Parkview High School and got the win 18-2. Reed Wilsher went 2 for 2 with an RBI, 3 runs and 2BB, Frederick Hidalgo went 1 for 2 with an RBI, and Ethan Hudson went 1 for 2 with an RBI, 2 runs and a walk. Overall it was a good win for the Eagles and are looking forward to the rest of the week. “This win felt great to have after the spring break tournament and even though I can’t play this season it is still great to see the team get the win,” said Braden Weeks.

On 4/12/23, Osbourn played against the Unity Reed Lions and on that day Osbourn took the win over Unity Reed 10-3 with the help of RJ Donahue and Ethan Hudson pitching and with the help of Aidan Kiefer and Reed Wilsher at the plate.

On 4/14/23 Osbourn played against Battlefield High School, unfortunately, Osbourn fell short by 12. During the game, Aidan Kiefer went 1 for 3 with an RBI, and Matt Haugh went 1 for 3, Noah Wilsher went 2 for 3 with an RBI, Llenell Evans went 1 for 2. On the pitching side, Aidan Kiefer pitched 4.2 innings with only giving up 2 earned runs and 3 hits.

Only 4/17/23 Osbourn Played Freedom South riding and lost 36-2. Ethan Hudson went 1 for 2, and Llenell Evans went 1 for 1.

On 4/18/23 Osbourn was matched up with the rivals of Osbourn Park, unfortunately, Osbourn fell short losing 8-2 but overall was not a bad game. RJ Donahue went 1 for 3, Ethan Hudson went 1 for 3, Llenell Evans went 1 for 3, and Noah Wilsher went 2 for 3. On the pitching side, Ethan Hudson pitched 4 innings and allowed 7 hits and 6 runs with 4 k’s, RJ Donahue pitched 1.2 innings and allowed 1 hit and 1 run.

On 4/20/23 Osbourn Played against the John Champe Nights, Osbourn lost 7-1 that day. Ethan Hudson went 1 for 3, and Matt Haugh went 1 for 3. Aidan Kiefer pitched 6 innings and allowed 7 hits, 5 earned runs with 3 k’s.

On 4/25/23 Osbourn played Freedom South riding high school and unfortunately fell short 23-0. Ethan Hudson went 1 for 2 at the plate. “The game may have not gone our way but we did not give up through the game, we just got to keep working hard at practice and get better,” said the Osbourn coaching staff.

Stay tuned for additional baseball updates as the season progresses!

So far this season Osbourn is 5-11 and has played 16 games. The team just keeps improving every practice and day and all the athletes are working super hard to get where they want to be.

On 4/27/23 Osbourn played against Gainesville High School.  The final score of the game was 5-0 and Osbourn took the loss. Ethan Hudson went 2 for 3 at the plate with a double. RJ Donahue pitched 2.1 innings giving up 4 hits and 4 runs with 2 K’S, and Ethan Hudson pitched 3.2 innings giving up 1 runs and 1 hit and striking out 4. “We battled through the whole game but we have to keep our composure and focus on the game in the dugout and we have to keep working every day,” said the coaching staff.”

On 5/2/23 Osbourn played against Patriot High School, Osbourn was trailing 7-0 in the 5th inning, but scored 5 runs which brought the score to 7-5. Unfortunately, Osbourn fell short to Patriot 15-5 after 6 innings. Ethan Hudson went 1 for 2, Aidan Kiefer went 1 for 4, and Llenell Evans went 1 for 3 at the plate. Noah Wilsher pitched 1.1 innings with no earned runs given up. “You guys were on them in the 5th inning, we just have to clean some things up, we keep battling and I know that we can keep up with all of these teams,” said Coach Haden.

On 5/5/23 Osbourn played an exciting game against Unity Reed High School. Unfortunately, Osbourn took the loss. During the game Matt Haugh went 3 for 3 at the plate, Aidan Kiefer went 1 for 4, and Noah Wilsher went 1 for 4. On the pitching side, RJ Donahue pitched 2 innings allowing 4 runs with 2 k’s, and Ethan Hudson pitched 5 innings with no earned runs with 13 k’s.

On 5/9/23 Osbourn played against Battlefield High School. Osbourn lost that day 7-0. Ethan Hudson went 1 for 2 at the plate, Aidan Kiefer went 2 for 3, and Sebastian Morris went 1 for 2. On the pitching side, Aidan Kiefer pitched 4 innings allowing 3 earned runs with 2 k’s, and Lenell Evans pitched 2 innings allowing no earned runs with 2 k’s.

On 5/11/23 Osbourn had their final game of the season against Osbourn Park. Osbourn lost that game 2-1 finishing the season strong. At the plate, Noah Wilsher went 1 for 3 at the plate. RJ Donahue pitched 7 innings allowing 2 runs with 5 k’s.

Even though the season is over Osbourn finished strong and hopes to build back up in 2024!