There’s a buzz in the air surrounding WJ’s baseball team. As their new field is being finished, the players, along with coach Kim Ahearn, feel that this year’s team is something special. Just ask senior catcher Carson Kenney, who has been on the team since his freshman year and can feel the potential in this team.
“This is the best [baseball] team that this school has seen in a while and our team comraderie is really good,” said Kenney.
As seen in The Gazette, Kenney will face tough expectations for this season as he is one of three WJ players, along with seniors Mac Gill and Robin Mowatt, to “watch” this season.
Starting the sport at the age of nine, baseball has always been a big part of Kenney’s life; he says he spends most of his time out on the field. Unlike sports like soccer and basketball where there’s more athletiscm, Kenney believes baseball requires more skill than athletiscm.
“With baseball you can’t simply get by on athleticism,” he said. “You have to be good at it.”
As Kenney moves on from high school, he hopes to play in a college uniform. He has his sights on many top colleges, but this month, he will be making a final decision on where he is going.
“I’m really excited to be able to play at the next level,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work.”
Nonetheless, leaving WJ will be tough for Kenney, especially because leaving high school will mean leaving his family of teammates behind.
“Most of these guys I’ve been playing with since middle school and some even since kindergarten,” said Kenney.
In the final year at WJ, Kenney, like the rest of his teammates, has high expectations for the season. The team expects nothing less than a state title. Along with seniors and longtime friends Zach Gordon, Sam Coe, Max Silverman, Sam Knect, Reid Litowitz, Aaron Weiss-rice, Gill and Mowatt, Kenney has worked hard this offseason to prepare for a final run come playoff time by lifting and running with the team and working on overall conditioning.
“These last four years have been the best years of my life so far,” said Kenney. “Hopefully I’ll leave it in style, celebrating a state title with these guys.”
