The baseball team will play its first district game against Coppell at home on March 15 at 7 p.m.

“I think all the games we play [in non-district] just help us get better as a team and help [build] team chemistry – everyone gets to be their best once district comes around,” senior pitcher Will Patterson said. “I think the team chemistry this year is a lot better than it has been any year that I’ve been here. It’s the best talent we’ve had in the past seven years at Hebron, so combining those two is what makes us really good right now.”

So far the team is 8-4 in non-district play. In its first tournament, the team won six games and did not lose any. In their next tournament, they only won two games, and lost in the other four. 

“I would like to say [we’re practicing] kind of the same as how it was in tournaments, but more intense because district really matters,” senior outfielder Aden Howard said. “We need to perform at the highest level. Everyone just needs to be communicating and working as hard as [they] can.”

This year, the team is senior-dominated. Out of the 31 players on varsity, four are sophomores and one is a junior; the rest are seniors. 

“We have much more experience than we’ve had in the past,” head coach Steve Stone said. “We have to be mature enough to handle both success and failure, and that’s what experience does for us.”

In non-district games and tournaments, Coppell has won four games, lost four and tied one. Last year, they won against Hebron twice. One game ended 7-0, and the other 5-4. 

“It’s been pretty tough [playing against Coppell],” Howard said. “We got swept [by them] last year. They are really tough, [and] they always have a strong team. They coach really well and they execute, so it’ll be a tough first district series, but we just need to come out and compete like we know how to do.”

Patterson said Coppell is always a good matchup for them and they have high energy games. 

“[I just need to] do my job, throwing strikes and helping the guys win,” Patterson said. “If I can throw a good game, then we’ll probably win. If I just do my job in throwing strikes, then I think we’ll be in a good spot. I just hope to win, but if we set the statement that we’re the team to beat in the district, that’s the icing on the cake.”

Since this year’s team is mostly seniors, it will be most on the teams’ last season to play in high school, which they say is their motivation to do their best this season. Many players are already committed to colleges and plan to pursue baseball after high school. Howard is committed to Dallas Baptist University and Patterson is committed to Tyler Junior College. 

“The biggest challenge overall is to make sure we understand that we have to work for what we get,” Stone said. “It doesn’t matter what people think or what people say about you, what matters is what you’re doing and what you think about yourselves. We have to earn it every single day in practice and in games.”