Freedom Area High School's Student Newspaper

FHS Press

Freedom Area High School's Student Newspaper

FHS Press

Freedom Area High School's Student Newspaper

FHS Press

Sparring Students vs. Fighting Faculty

The desks are loaded. Students dig in with miniature yellow baseball bats ready to swing. The teacher throws a curveball: a pop quiz. The first two students strike-out, but the third student hits it out of the park! Can a classroom really be like a softball field? Are teachers pitchers and outfielders in their classrooms? On Nov. 15, students and teachers alike took their skills to the softball field for a friendly competition: the annual faculty versus students softball game. Starting the tradition last year, the Freedom golf team, coached by Mr. Aaron Fitzpatrick, set up a fundraiser to benefit the golf team in which students and faculty went head-to-head in a softball game. This year, Senior Nick Schwab took over the fundraiser as his senior project. Schwab saw this as a simple way to give back to the golf team by raising money to help with equipment for next year’s team. Through four cancellations due to hurricane Sandy, NHS inductions, and the late arrival of T-shirts, the hardest part in organizing the event was “getting teachers to play.” Despite the trouble, ten teachers formed the faculty softball team including Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Ellen Hill, Ms. Katie Gigl, Ms. Catherine Stringer, Mrs. Lisa Woods, Mr. Chris Bennett, Mr. Nathan Langelli, Mrs. Blaire Guthrie and Mrs. Heather Giammaria. Having an inadequate number of players, senior students Matt VanDeCar and Sam Beckey joined the teachers to face their fellow classmates. “It was actually a little more fun being on the teacher team because it was funny to see Miss Stringer and Miss Gigl try to play softball,” Beckey said. Playing two games, the faculty and students split the series. In game one, the faculty came out victorious 9-8 with a walk-off single by Bennett in the bottom of the fifth that scored Stringer. Another highlight from game one, Fitzpatrick cleared the bases with an inside-the-park grand slam at the top of the first inning. The student team topped the faculty in the second game 7-4 due to impressive senior leadership. The student team pulled an early lead from fielding blunders made by the faculty and exceptional hitting by Schwab, Sophomore Dakota Pander and Seniors Maddi Lewis and Jonny Fiscus. Matching skill in both fielding and batting, the student players and faculty held a very competitive and entertaining softball game for the students in the cheering section that came out to support the event. “Our cheering section may not have known how to spell everyone’s name, but we still had fun!” Giammaria said. “I thought [the games] were fun, and Nick did a pretty good job setting things up,” Senior team member Kylee Wolf said. “Everyone was a good sport about it, and nobody got mad or aggressive.” Overall, the softball game was a success in both getting students and faculty outside of the classroom and raising money for the golf team for the 2013 season. “I was thrilled to see as many students and spectators as there were at the game!” Gigl said. “It was super fun, and I definitely think the students and faculty should have more competitions .”