by Ryan Pickus Current Sports Editor
For many students, high school sports is one of the most memorable aspects of high school. This year’s seniors are having their last dance, and while some are playing at the next level in college, most will step on the field for the final time of their career. There have been many great athletic accomplishments for this senior class, arguably the most impressive of them all is helping win the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Quality Program, which recognizes outstanding high school athletic programs.
Down the road, these seniors will carry valuable memories of high school sports. For Senior Tyler Della Noce, one of these memories will be “beating Marriotts Ridge on sophomore day for JV baseball.” This was the Hawks last game of the 2019 season, where they beat Marriotts Ridge 4-1, finishing their season strong. Della Noce, a pitcher, helped contribute to the team’s success by pitching a complete game, only giving up three hits while allowing only one run the whole game.
Senior Dylan Burnett, claims that his favorite high school sports memory was, “Winning the 2019 county [football] championship.” The Hawks beat Howard 14-7 in their final regular season game to win the county title. Burnett, a quarterback and middle linebacker, helped contribute to his teams success by playing two very important positions on both sides of the ball. Burnett recalls the lessons he learned playing football, explaining that “Athletics has taught me to persevere when times get tough, and that success does not build character, failure builds character.”
Senior Ryan Miller, states that his “triple against Glenelg” was his favorite high school sports memory. Miller’s clutch hit came in the sixth inning while trailing 3-0. Miller had two runners on base. He stepped up to bat and smacked the ball into deep right center field, scoring two runs and making it a 3-2 ball game. Miller also came into pitch, going two and two thirds not allowing a single hit or run, while striking out four.
Senior Daniel Maiorana, who currently plays tennis for the Hawks, reflects on his time playing JV baseball, saying that his favorite high school sports memory were the “9th grade JV baseball bus rides.” Maiorana helped lead the Hawks to two consecutive winning seasons both his freshman and sophomore year by pitching and playing outfield. “High school sports gave me good memories and something I can look back on and say that I had a great coach and teammates that I could rely on every day,” Maiorana states as he reflects on the impact high school sports had on him.
Overall, high school sports are very important and create lifelong memories and friends for all student athletes. Through high school sports, student athletes are able to learn hard work and determination, as well as many other important traits needed to succeed both in their sport and in life.