As we are approaching the spring season, many people have the upcoming baseball season on their minds. Chardon residents in particular have been excited about the upcoming high school baseball season, and the anticipated return of the Hilltoppers after their journey to the Regional Finals last year. However, ChardonHigh School has other plans.

            After reviewing the long list of injuries from past years; high accumulated debt from the sport; and the miserable fail of an attempt to win the state tournament last year, principal Andy Fetchik has decided to replace baseball with wiffleball in the upcoming school year. Safety is a big factor that led to this decision, and with the use of a plastic ball instead of a hard baseball, it will reduce the risk of injury.  A wild pitch or a rocket shot up the middle that hits a player in the head will merely end in a short complaint followed by some trash talk instead of a trip to the hospital.

            “I always worried about my students getting hurt in the sport of baseball,” said Fetchik. “With this switch to wiffleball, I will not be worried about my students’ safety, but instead, I will be able to focus on the action with an easy mind.”

            As we all know, the baseball team got their hopes and dreams shut down in their attempt to make the state championship game. After reviewing with the school board, Athletic Director Doug Snyder has decided that Chardon would have a better chance to win the state tournament in wiffleball.

“With power hitters such as Ben Furlich and Reilly Hawkins, who each batted around .800 and averaged 3 bombs a game during last year’s wiffleball season, along with ace pitcher Mason Bender, we are sure to be a force to be reckoned with,” said Snyder proudly.

In addition, with the failed levy comes many budget cuts. One of these cuts affects baseball season, and with the inexpensive nature of wiffleball, the timing of the switch is great. All that is needed in order to play the sport is a small field to play on, a few plastic wiffleballs, and a bat. Due to this, the money spent will be significantly less than what was spent in previous years on the baseball team.

With all of these benefits, there is no doubt that wiffleball will be very popular at Chardon in the years to come.

When asked about this change to wiffleball, senior Ben Furlich said how he is “ecstatic for wiffleball season to start. We are going to go all the way this year.”