The Atoms baseball season has begun as the team has competed in two scrimmages leading into their first regular season games.

The Atoms’ took on the Park View Patriots on Mar. 6 in their first scrimmage of the season. The Atoms trailed early against the Patriots and went on to lose the scrimmage 16-11. Junior Ryan Gammon and senior Ryan Peich combined for seven hits as the team scored 11 runs in 10 innings of play.

The Atoms bounced back in the following scrimmage against the Osbourn Eagles. The Atoms got off to a slow start in the first inning failing to score after two hits. The game would be tied at 2-2 after the Atoms scored off of a big hit by sophomore Alex Brennan.

The team expanded their lead over the Eagles 4-2 and a home-run by senior Liam Conroy completely flipped the momentum in the Atoms’ favor giving the team a 6-5 lead late in the game.

The Atoms never looked back following Conroy’s home-run and went on to win the game 10-6 over the Eagles.

“We looked really good in our scrimmage against Osbourne,” senior Ryan Peich said. “We came away with a win against a very strong team, made very little mistakes and hit the ball extremely well.”

Following the two scrimmages, the Atoms went on to face the Hayfield Hawks on Mar. 13 and the Lee Lancers on Mar. 14  in the Icebreaker Tournament (results to these games were not available by the day of publication).

“I’m really excited about our season beginning,” Head Coach Christopher Bagot said. “I think we learned a lot in the two scrimmages and got a lot of experience which I hope will help us in our regular season games.”

The Atoms showed some of the team’s strengths in the first two scrimmages that will be important to the team’s success in the regular season.

“Right now there are about five or six guys that are really hitting the ball well that have gotten multiple hits, extra base hits and shown power in our scrimmages,” Bagot said.

The roster’s strength this season thrives off of the team’s ability to hit well allowing for runs to be scored.

“One of our biggest strengths is hitting, our line-up is powerful from top to bottom,” Peich said.

Despite the team showing strength in hitting there still multiple areas for improvement. One of the main weaknesses of the team in the first scrimmage was pitching.

“One of our weaknesses was our pitching in the first scrimmage, we walked way too many guys,” Bagot said. “Our pitching got better in the second scrimmage however, we are not where we want to be.”

The Atoms look to be more consistent in all aspects of the game for the start of the regular season. Improving and being consistent will be key for a good record this year.

“Consistency in all areas is what we need to focus on and that will make us very prepared for the season,” Peich said.

Along with improvement in pitching and consistency, the Atoms also look to allow players to gain more experience at the varsity level. The roster this year is comprised of mostly younger players with only three seniors.

Last season’s team of mostly senior players had a successful run, finishing 14-9 and reaching the conference semi-finals where the team lost against the Lake Braddock Bruins.

“Compared to last year the roster was a senior driven squad where players had up to three or even four years of experience,” Bagot said. “I’m not too concerned about last year because this year we have an energetic group of guys that are hungry to do whatever they can to improve and win.”

Following the Icebreaker tournament, The Atoms will prepare to take on Patriot Conference rivals such as the South County Stallions on Mar. 17 and the West Springfield Spartans on Mar. 21.