Roos baseball hosts 18th annual Long Ball contest

Feb. 19—The Weatherford High School baseball team hosted its 18th annual Long Ball Contest on Saturday, accompanied for the first time with a Meet the Roos media event, introducing players on the varsity, both junior varsity teams, and the 9th Grade team.

"Long ball is both a fundraiser and a fun competition for the team," said Varsity Head Coach Jason Lee, who pitches to every player in the program during the competition. "Each player gets several opportunities to see how far they can hit the baseball. We measure their best hit with a laser distance measurer and crown an overall champion for the longest hit ball as well as a winner for each grade."

This year's overall champion was senior Joel Gonzales, whose 423 foot home run was just one of three he hit during his turn. Junior Colton McClure won his class with a 381 foot homer, one of three for him as well. The sophomore winner was Brayden Lara's 345 foot home run. Freshman Mason Trejo won his class with a 321 foot hit. Other home runs during the contest were hit by seniors Roy Moon (2), and Henry Soto, and juniors Diego Hernandez, Caiden Hubbard, Cory Pantoja and Rhys Vindiola.

The varsity WHS baseball season begins when it hosts the Southwest Ford Classic at WHS from Thursday, Feb. 22 to Saturday, Feb. 24. Game times are as follows:

Feb. 22 11 am vs All Saints HS; 7:15 pm vs. Mansfield HS

Feb. 23 11 am vs Austin HS; 7:15 pm vs. Mansfield Legacy HS

Feb. 24 12:45 pm vs. Waxahachie HS; 6:15 pm vs. Arlington Martin HS

"The beginning of the baseball season is always filled with optimism," Lee said. "We won our district last year, but you don't do that without a strong senior class. So, we lost some great players to graduation, but we also return some very talented players and look forward to seeing what they can do. The non-district schedule at the beginning of the season will allow the coaching staff an opportunity to see some guys who are fighting for a starting job try to earn that position. We hope everyone will take the opportunity to come see us play."