By Lilian Nguyen & Zander Sherry
Baseball
Last year, in Division II, baseball did not enter the playoffs after two of the team’s best pitchers went down with injuries. In the 2023 season, the team hopes to revitalize with teamsmanship, putting in exceptional work every day. With their constant practice, the team strives to put up a good competition against the schools in their league.
“As a team, we’re looking at making the playoffs and trying to make a run there,” head coach Gerardo Gonzalez said. “I’m just trying to get them used to that winning mindset.”
This year, Gonzalez stepped up from pitching coach to head coach and looks to build his connection with the program even stronger.
University of California Irvine-commit senior Timothy Grack will play again for the team, and along with many notable players returning, the Barons have a great deal of new athletes to work together and compete with.
“The more they pull for each other, the better they perform personally,” Gonzalez said. “They’re starting to really get that team concept. It kind of changed the culture around here.”
In the Sunset Surf league, they will go up against Division I ranked Huntington Beach High School (HBHS), Division I ranked Los Alamitos High School (LAHS), and Division II’s Edison High School (EHS).
Softball
Softball had a remarkable season last year, making it to CIF semifinals in Division V, upsetting many local competitors in a 15-game winning streak with a 23-5-1 overall record. Their performance last year landed them a spot in Division III in the Sunset League.
With only one athlete graduating from the team last year, the Barons’ roster still stands strong, with junior Mackenzie Butt committing to Boise State University, and many other athletes returning for greater competition in this Division.
In League, HBHS, LAHS, Marina High School (MHS), EHS and Newport Harbor High School (NHHS) all pose notable competition against the Barons as they enter the season.
“Ultimately, we want to win league and then move through CIF, win our division and bring a championship back to the school,” head coach Richard Aldrich said. “All of us coaches and players feel great about the team this year.”
Boys’ Tennis
Boys’ Tennis ended up third in league last year, falling just behind Corona del Mar High School (CdMHS) and sending a couple FVHS athletes to the playoffs.
The team will go up against some of the same Division I ranked major competitors as previous years, notably, CdMHS and LAHS.
“This year, we’re going to look forward to raising the bar and ending up in the top two,” head coach Harshul Patel said. “[CdM] is still strong, so we have to fight really hard against them. Besides that, I think we should be able to do really good against other teams.”
Senior Alan Ton, who committed to the United States Military Academy in West Point and was named a national High School tennis All-American, returns to play his last year for the Barons, and remains one of the team’s crucial defenders against competition. The team also prepares to train new athletes, with many playing varsity for the first and second time.
“We expect 100%,” Patel said. “Win, lose or tie, we don’t really care. We need 100% effort on and off the board.”
Boys’ Volleyball
Boys’ Volleyball failed to enter the playoffs last year at a Division III rank, and will play again in the Sunset Wave against EHS and LAHS. Since then, the team has geared up with some new equipment and a new head coach, Rebecca Cheltenham, who recently coached at Pacifica High School and coached the FVHS girls’ team in the fall.
Along with EHS and LAHS, the Barons have more fierce competition coming in from other schools like CdMHS and Laguna Beach High School, who have been consistently tough teams to beat.
“We have a lot of athletic, adaptable players, and I think we have the ability to take it all the way as long as we keep our head in the game,” senior captain Curtis Harper said.
As they go into the season, the team also plans to practice four to five days a week, having access to the gym and new training equipment along with a new head coach and some new athletes to train with.
With a total of 10 home games overall, five of which are league, the FVHS boys’ volleyball team looks to recharge with new energy on the court throughout the spring season.
Track & Field
FVHS track & field competes in the Sunset Surf League with Division I ranked boys and girls. Last year, FVHS had an excellent season, winning frosh-soph boys, JV boys and varsity boys. Similarly, on the girls side, they won frosh-soph and JV, but got second for varsity girls.
“It was one of the best years we’ve ever had… we’re kind of in the midst of a really successful time,” head coach Brian Bivens said. “We [had] many kids going to CIF.”
While there are huge numbers now, the program struggled with getting enough athletes due to the pandemic. However, the number of athletes exploded as many people joined, bringing the numbers back to 190.
This season looks even brighter as their team is filled with new athletes as well as committed athletes. Senior Jonathan Yu committed to Cal Poly Slo and senior Aubri Le has been looking at offers from Point Loma, Concordia and San Marcos.
While the team mainly consists of newcomers, the numbers are exciting as Coach Bivens is optimistic about training them.
“When they’re young, they usually get better, really fast. It’s going to probably be amazing. I’m very optimistic that we’re going to do well,” Bivens said.
Boys’ Golf
Boys’ golf is coming into this season with high hopes for their young team. Last year, the team was in Division IV and finished third in the wave.
Now that the boys’ team is able to practice full-time at Mile Square park, they’re ready to enter the Sunset Wave league but will play in Division V rather than IV.
“Last year, we had good matches with Marina and Long Beach. We ended up beating Laguna twice and Marina we split some competitive matches,” Keyser said.
Now that this year the team is bringing in a lot of young up-and-comers, Keyser looks forward to the new season.
“I think they’re excited. I’m a little nervous, but I’m also excited that we’re a young team. I have high hopes and expectations for them this year,” coach Keyser said.
As the excitement grows for this team, their main goal is just for the team to gain experience and grow together.
“I would just like to get better as the season progresses. I’d like to see these young guys that we have as freshmen and sophomores get experience,” Keyser said.
Swimming & Diving
Last year, Swimming & Diving kicked off a normal season for the first time in two years, and three FVHS swimmers ended up going to CIF for individuals. With both boys’ and girls’ remaining in Division I, several varsity swimmers have hopes to make CIF.
In the Sunset league, FVHS will compete against Division I ranked boys’ at LAHS, HBHS and CdMHS and Division I ranked LAHS and CdMHS girls’ teams with Division IV girls’ from HBHS. For years, these schools have brought great competition to their meets, with first place winners often finishing a fraction of a second ahead.
“Having the competition, it really pushes us to be our best,” senior Peyton Sherwood said. “I think it makes us better as a whole team.”
Because swim is more individual based, many team goals revolve around striving for personal records in events.
“My sophomore year, the girls went undefeated. And we’re hoping to maybe go undefeated again,” Sherwood said. “But there’s a lot of individual goals as well. A lot of people have goals for themselves about times they want to achieve or events they want to complete.”
With four swim meets at home this year, including a Pentathlon on the 25th to kick off the season, the Barons have excitement for the ways they can improve personally and as a team.
Badminton
FVHS’s badminton team is coming into this year with high hopes and expectations as last year’s season ended with a run all the way to the Division I CIF quarter-finals.
This year’s team remains in Division I as they gear up for matches in the Sunset Wave league.
Like many of the years prior, Westminster High School and Cerritos High School remain notable competitors in the Wave league. Still, the badminton team is hard at work and remains enthusiastic.
“This year a lot of my teammates have told me that they’re excited to learn new skills in badminton and improve,” Ho said.
The team’s main goal is to just compete and expose them to experiences that are unique to badminton.
“My goal for this team is to have [them] enjoy playing badminton while gaining life experiences by competing,” Ho said.
