Winter sports are nearly over, with our varsity basketball program being the only one left in their championship.

   Spring can be a stressful time for students with SAT, ACT and AP exams, all of which no one looks forward to. What students do look forward to, however, are spring sports. 

Baseball

   Last spring we watched our boys’ baseball team advance to the regional finals, where they suffered a 3-2 loss at home against Rockville. Last season’s squad was led by D1 & 2 commits Jake Garrett and Bryce Curry, seniors at the time, alongside juniors Darin Kuskie and Alex Perera. The loss of Curry and Garrett will be noticeable for sure, but last year’s roster was predominantly constructed of juniors who will likely return this spring. With those players and the arrival of strong sophomores from last season like Malachi Nunez, Anthony Gasbarre and Jacob Salebe, the team should still be in good shape for their first game against Seneca Valley on Mar. 22, whom they beat 1-0 in last year’s regular-season debut. 

Softball

   Over the course of two months, our softball team went on a commanding 22-game win streak, dismantling every team in the region until the state semifinals where they lost 4-0 against Linganore. Similar to the baseball team, the roster wasn’t dominated by seniors, there were even a handful of freshmen and sophomores on the team who will likely return not just this year, but next year and potentially the year after that. Having a group of four or five players that play together at the varsity level for an entire two or three seasons results in strong team chemistry that paired with polished skills, can lead to success. With that being said, the girls can quietly compete for a state title this spring, and that journey will begin at Seneca Valley on Mar. 22.

Lacrosse

   Both the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams synonymously had successful seasons that ended in a loss in the state quarterfinals. The Girls’ team, led by captains and now seniors Anna Dube and Lindsey Witmer, recorded a respectable 10-5 record. This is especially impressive due to the fact that there were no seniors on the team, and the roster consisted of mainly freshmen and sophomores who saw a lot of playing time. This young team prevailed through the first two rounds of the playoffs before losing to Linganore in the state quarterfinals. 

   Similarly to the girls’, the boys’ roster was a young one, resulting in a lot of playing time distributed amongst the underclassmen of the team. This roster led by juniors at the time Will Terry, Tyler Marani, and Dillon Dunathan, was able to turn a rocky regular season around and advance to the state quarterfinals, where they’d suffer a devastating loss to Catonsville. Juniors Brady Reese, Matthew Mills, and Aidan Brant, along with sophomores Jack Reiter and Michael Tippett are expected to step up and be critical contributors to the success of this year’s season. 

   With the girls’ team set to see a similar roster of players, and the boys team set to welcome a handful of new players due to the loss of six seniors, we hope to see an even deeper run by Damascus’ very own lacrosse teams, beginning on the 21st (boys) and 22nd (girls) of March.

Unified Softball

   The 2021-22 unified softball team had a solid record of 4-2 last year, securing those wins against Watkins Mill, Wheaton, Einstein and Gaithersburg. As of Feb. 22, their schedule has not been posted. However, it’s safe to say that this year’s schedule will mirror last year’s, with games taking place once a week beginning in the last week of March. The donation tab of our athletics website hasn’t been set up yet, but donations towards the program’s gear, equipment and jerseys are much appreciated once they’re available.

Tennis

   Of matches that were recorded, our tennis teams earned a collective record of 9-8, sweeping Northwood, Springbrook, Seneca Valley and Magruder in the process. The 5-4 boys team, who accounted for three of these sweeps, was guided by senior captains Owen Beabout, James Botti and Kevin Bowers, and the girls’ team, led by seniors Grace Antonishek and Samhitha Gandla, found themselves competing in the divisional championship. 

   We’ll be taking on Northwest in the season debut, who beat us in last season’s opener. We hope to see them avenge last year’s loss and come out victorious against The Jaguars on their home turf on Mar. 23.

Track and Field

   Our school has a great deal of talented track and field athletes. Senior Malcolm Williams Jr., who recently placed seventh in the high jump at the winter state competition, placed amongst the top twenty in all eight of the different field events he competed in. His most notable meet was regionals, where he cleared six feet to place second in the high jump, his strongest event. This is especially impressive due to the fact that high jumpers are generally very tall with long legs, the 5 ’10” senior often found himself competing against athletes distinctly taller than him, yet he still rose to the top of the leaderboards at each competition. 

   Another one of our remarkable jumpers is junior Anna Polk. Last year Polk dominated the long jump, leaping fourteen feet and nine inches to place second against Quince Orchard, additionally, she was the youngest of those who competed in the event.

    Current senior Oluwayomi Adamo nearly won every sprint he competed in, the highlight of his season was his 10.9 100-meter dash that he ran in a win against Clarksburg, where he beat second place by an entire half of a second. After winning each of his five regular-season 100-meter dashes, Adamo placed eighth in the county-wide meet. Damascus hopes to see this excellence repeat itself this spring, starting on Mar. 21 at Northwest high school.

Volleyball

   Last season’s spring volleyball teams faced a lot of adversity, with the coed team going 4-7 and the boys team losing all 11 of their games. However, both teams were constructed of predominantly first-year players, as spring volleyball is an underrepresented sport that has only recently gained a substantial amount of interest. Senior and Juniors Camilla Galeano, Emma Baldridge and Caroline Botti, starters for the girls’ volleyball teams the past two seasons, intend on guiding a team with loads of potential this spring. They’ll be accompanied by senior and second-year player Isaac Turner-Little, last year’s starting middle blocker and this year’s primary option for sets. There are also rumors that the varsity basketball team’s starting forward Michael Baskerville intends on playing volleyball this spring. The 6’5” senior could become a killer at the net if he can quickly learn his role on the court, as it is a brand new sport to him.

   As for the boys’ team, most of their starters like juniors Lucas Dworkin, Jacob O’Neal and last year’s captain Sean Spillers have been working on their game during the off-season and intend on playing again this year. Hopefully all of the players’– across both of the teams’ hard work during the off-season will pay off in the form of a successful spring season. 

    Spring is approaching, meaning we get to look forward to eight weeks of exciting competition which will hopefully alleviate our distress from the exams and standardized testing that take place during those dreaded months.