The Atlantic baseball team kicked off the 2019 season with back-to-back home outings on Wednesday, May 22, and Thursday, May 23. The team graduated eight players, so a variety of positions were up for grabs. Besides a refurbished lineup, the team also has a new head coach in Joe Brummer. The Trojans put all of this on display for the first time, as they faced off against Logan-Magnolia on Wednesday.

Senior Chase McLaren got the start on the mound for Atlantic, pitching two innings of shutout ball. At the top of the third, junior Onesimo Garcia took his place. Garcia threw the ball 62 times through four innings. Lo-Mag was able to get on the board in the fifth inning, getting three players to touch home plate. Sophomore Joe Weaver closed out the game, allowing no hits in his one inning of play.

On offense, an eight-run first inning placed Atlantic firmly in the lead. While Lo-Mag scored in the fifth inning, the Trojans added on two more runs in their half, making the score 10-3. The boys tacked on two more in the sixth.

Junior Brody O’Brien led his team with 3 RBIs and the boys stole four bases in their 12-3 rout of Lo-Mag in the season opener.

The following day, Atlantic hosted Red Oak. The Trojans looked to add another W to the column against the Tigers, who had not played yet this season. O’Brien was the starting pitcher for Atlantic. He neared the maximum pitch count at the end of five innings, and Weaver set out to finish the game. When Weaver stepped in to pitch, the score was 4-2 in favor of the Trojans. However, superb hitting by the Tigers in the top of the sixth inning quickly turned the tide. Weaver allowed six runs, and Red Oak took the lead, 8-4.

In their half of the inning, Atlantic put up three runs, but couldn’t tack on any more. The Trojans came up short, 8-7. The boys had eight hits out of 23 at bats, six stolen bases, and they drew seven walks.

With their record sitting at 1-1, next up for the baseball team is a road game against Nodaway Valley on Wednesday.