After playing baseball since he was five, freshman JT Zawacki only has one dislike in the sport: losing.

“The team just gets down, and it’s not fun anymore,” JT said. “Because when you’re winning, your team has a lot of energy, and it’s fun, and [we’re] just messing around. But when we’re losing, it’s quiet. Everyone’s upset, and then it just builds up, and you make more errors and more errors. You just dig yourself in a hole.” 

On the complete opposite side of the spectrum, winning is a whole other ordeal. This fall season, even though JT was not able to attend one of their games, he was still ecstatic to watch and support his teammates when they won.

“When you’re winning a game, it feels really good,” JT said. “I checked the score [for the game I wasn’t at], and I was really excited because we won fifteen-zero.” 

JT predominantly plays as an infielder or pitcher, and sometimes, will hit as well, even though it is not his strong suit.

With the fall season coming to an end, JT is soaking up every waking moment he has with his team, since regular practices will not be held again until the spring. From running bases to pitching fastballs, JT loves it all.

“I enjoy [baseball],” JT said, “and I embrace the time I have playing because I don’t get to play a lot. Our last fall-ball game was this Sunday, and I don’t start back up with games until the summer.”

This year, JT had made it onto a new baseball team. He was extremely proud of himself, especially because this new team was a three seed, which means that they are the third best in their league. 

With a new team comes new coaches. JT’s coaches were not only able to assist him in his technique but were also able to help him open his eyes to the fact that baseball is becoming his passion.

“[My new coaches] made me realize that baseball was my top sport.” JT said. “That’s the sport I’m best at, and it’s the one I enjoy the most.”

Though the fall season for baseball has just come to a close, JT is already more than eager to get back onto the field with his new teammates and create fresh, close friendships that he hopes will last a lifetime.

“I’m excited just to play [this spring] because of how much I enjoy baseball,” JT said, “but I’m [also] making new friendships [with] my new teammates because most of them go to Lowell.”

Making new friends outside of his own school district is a unique, exciting experience for JT, since all of his teammates in the past have also attended FHC. With this in mind, JT is thrilled to broaden the horizon and make plenty of new friends.

Even though JT was just a mere five years old when he first hit a baseball off of a tee, he is so incredibly glad that he swung that bat and stuck with it all these years . If there is one thing that he could learn from his time playing baseball, it would be that trying new things, no matter if you enjoy it or not, is the best way to truly discover your passion in life.

“If you’re not sure [if] you want to do something, try it out,” JT said, “and [if] it works out and you like it, you found something new.”