After months of hard work and determination, the bocce season has come to an end. The team finished 0-5 after being faced with tough matches and talented competitors. Following the team’s first match on Dec. 12, they played against B-CC on Dec. 19 for their first away game.

“The away games went well. Our students followed directions, participated and had fun,” coach Joseph Schultze said.

On Jan. 5, Wootton’s highly skilled team came to play and while the Wildcats put up a fight, Wootton walked away with the win.

“It was tough, they were a good team,” junior Claire Weston said.

Whenever faced with the challenge of a skilled team, the Wildcats never back down and keep the competition rolling.

“[The] kids played really hard, it was pretty competitive the first game, the second game got kind of away from us. The other team had a few big frames, but [I’m] very proud of how our team played. Everybody tried their best and played until the end,” Schultze said.

The following week, the Wildcats battled the Churchill Bulldogs on Jan. 10 during a home game. The team started off strong with a 2-0 lead after the first frame, but Churchill quickly caught up. Schultze noted freshman Vincent Khatchadourian as a standout player who often helped the team out towards the end of a frame with precision and strategy.

In the second frame, Khatchadourian had a strong roll but Churchill then pushed their team’s balls closer to the pallino adding on 3 points. After this frame, Churchill continued to win several frames due to their unique strategy of dropping the ball vs. simply rolling it.

Although Churchill had a strong hold of the second game, another standout player, junior William Isola used a defensive strategy to push Churchill’s balls further from the pallino. But, Churchill came back and rolled to move the pallino closer to their own balls, winning several frames. The Wildcats then came back in the end, finishing the second game with a score of 11-5.

“I think we’re getting better … A lot of balls just go way too far, because the balls keep rolling. We need to improve on throwing shorter, which we’ve done, there’s been improvement from the first game,” Khatchadourian said.

The players brought their energy and effort to each game while still reflecting on some improvements for future matches and seasons.

“I think maybe what we should do better is try to take our time more. We played pretty well today,” junior Alex Murphy said.

For their final game of the regular season, the team went on to play Whitman on Jan. 17. Although falling to Whitman, the Wildcats made some frames competitive and the crowd was very supportive of both their home team and WJ.

On Saturday, Jan. 28, the team went on to play in their playoff game at BCC. The Wildcats fought until the end but lost 10-4 in the shortened 45-minute game, completing the season.

“Our students learned a lot about the game of bocce. We worked on not tossing the ball too far and that continues to be something we are working on improving,” Schultze said.

When reflecting on the season overall, Schultze was happy with the team’s performance and is looking forward to making improvements next season.

“The players had fun with their friends, met some new people and played a varsity sport. They got to be a part of something special, especially during our home games when some of our other teams came out and supported them,” Schultze said.