This past week the spring sport season was officially kicked off with all teams’ first competitions of the season. Although the outcomes were not as many of the teams had hoped, there were many positives that show for promising seasons.

The Varsity Softball team started the week off by taking on Wake Christian School Tuesday at home. The girls lost 8-13, but surprised themselves by how well they played. The Lady Eagles were tough at the plate and kept the score close the whole game. The coaches were especially enthused with the performance the 7^th graders who have never played before. On Thursday, the girls had their second game of the season against Parrott. Parrott is tough competition in most sports, but especially softball. The Patriots won the state championship last year and have experience that RMA simply doesn’t. However, our girls fought hard until the end and remained competitive against them for several innings. It was definitely a tough start to the season, but the future for this team is definately bright.

The Varsity girls’ soccer team also started their season with a tough game against Parrott Academy. Our soccer team is another young team at RMA, consisting of many freshmen and a couple of 8^th graders. Therefore, going into a first game against a much older and bigger Parrott Academy was quite daunting. However, the girls played hard and kept the game close losing only 2-4. Both goals were scored by 8^th grader Ada Everette who will be a big asset to the team this year. Junior Suzanna Mosely said, “We were happy. It went way better than expected and we are hoping to practice hard and beat them when we play at Parrott. But, it was still a good first game”. The loss was obviously not what the team wanted, but the high level of play gives them a good starting point to continue the season.

Varsity boys’ tennis took on Parrott as well this week. Parrott tennis teams are always strong and this year was no exception. Our tennis team is made up of a strong, returning top three, but after that is all new members of the team with little experience with match play. Sophomore number 1 seed, Trey Smelcer, played with his usual power and consistency resulting in a relatively easy singles win. Seniors, Jack Thorp and Davis Brown, took up courts two and three. Although they both came short of victory, both of their matches were close and could have gone either way. Trey and Jack played the number one doubles court and came out with another win for the team. However, to the team’s disappointment, they finished with an overall 2-7 score against Parrott. Although a loss, it was one more court than they won last year showing improvement. The team has the better part of the season ahead of them with strong top seeds and good senior leadership. The boys will be a major threat in conference play.

The Varsity Baseball team finished out the day also playing Parrott in the first game of the season. The team this year has a lot of talent, but is young, starting three freshmen in the infield against a bigger, older, and more experienced Parrott Academy. Parrott won the state championship last year and has almost the same team returning. Our boys did a great job holding the Patriots in the first few innings, limiting them to a few runs. As the game went on Parrott began to pull ahead with a few big hits. The game ended with a pretty large victory for APA, but with the young talent along with a strong returning upper classman, including: Reid Johnston, A.J. Mitchell, Kyle Holland, Tyson Jones, and Josh Legaj, this team has a successful season ahead of them.