Baseball Seniors a Strong Backbone for Team

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Cody Wilkins, Reporter

The Griffith Panthers are off to a hot start this season with a 6-1 season record and a 4-0 record in their conference as of April 10. Seniors Johnny Maynard and Kyle Iwinski are Griffith’s one and two when it comes to pitching.

“I feed off the energy when the other teams talk and try to get in my head, but I block them out. I focus on my catcher to cancel out any other distractions,” said Maynard.

Maynard currently has one win at the start of the season where he struck out seven batters in four innings against the Bishop Noll Warriors, a conference opponent, on April 1 at the US Steel Yard in Gary. Maynard currently has a 3.18 ERA, which is an average of how many runs he gives up per appearance.

Iwinski had 17 strikeouts against the Whiting Oilers and pitched a complete game on April 8.

“The team and I were well prepared for the game against the Oilers so everyone was feeling pretty solid. I stay focused by doing my pitching routines before every game to get in a groove before the game starts,” said Iwinski.

Both Maynard and Iwinski have been on the varsity roster since their freshman year and know what it takes to play at that level of baseball. Both Iwinski and Maynard played for their travel team known as the Chiefs last summer, and both have been playing baseball for as long as they could.

“In order to make a run to the state championship a lot of things have to go a team’s way, but teams have to have two top guns, and we’ve got them in Kyle and Johnny. They both are going to be in big games this season, and they have to be the guys to carry us to a state title if we are to get there,” said baseball coach and dean of students Brian Jennings.

The Panthers are looking to stay on track for the remainder of the season while minimizing the number of loses and hopefully winning their conference and a state title

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