Mitch Simmons is a junior on the Fossil Ridge baseball team and has been playing baseball for nine years prior. He has been on the varsity team since sophomore year and plans to play his senior year and hopefully in college. Simmons plays in the outfield and also takes on a leadership role for his team. Although Simmons played many other sports when he was younger, including football, soccer, track and basketball, he said, “Baseball was always the sport I had passion for.”

Simmons said that last year, the Fossil baseball team did extremely well winning most of their games and bonding as teammates; therefore it was an overall successful year for Fossil.

Personally, Simmons feels he has improved a lot since freshman year. “I’ve gotten a lot bigger and more coordinated,” he said.

According to Simmons, they lost a lot of valuable senior players from last year but he sees a lot of potential and new talent coming aboard from the underclassmen. The team has eight starting juniors this season and they all seem to be very “promising athletes,” as Simmons put it.

Simmons predicts this coming season will continue to go well. “We’re really young but I know we have the will and potential to do well,” he said. “I wouldn’t change anything about the team.”

In the last big tournament Fossil had in Arizona they won two out of the three games. “The game we lost was due to lack of focus and the team didn’t come very prepared,” Simmons said.

Simmons said that the baseball coach, Mr. Finley , has been around the game a lot and has good tips that will help them though the season as well.

According to coach Finley, “on paper we’re probably going to be looked at like a middle of the road team. We have some talented players, but as a team we tend to get over looked.”

Finley has worked four years a Fossils’ baseball coach. Previously he was a teacher at Loveland for 25 years and retired to solely focus on coaching baseball. “I really miss teaching, but coaching these boys brings me great joy.” Finley said.

Fossil’s baseball team has had to overcome some big hurdles this season including losing all of their senior players. “Having all our seniors gone this year has really put a lot of the team’s weight on the juniors; they have to grow up really fast.” Finley said.

“The one motto that I really try to stick to is grind. Keep after it, it doesn’t matter what the score is.” Finley said.