Editor’s note: This article has been revised to ensure that the tone and framing fairly represent all perspectives involved in the team’s restructuring.
In the past, the baseball program has had varsity, junior varsity (JV) and freshman teams. This year, the program structure changed: the JV team was removed, and the freshman team was expanded to include sophomores. As a result, the school is currently the only one in Marin County fielding a modified freshman team. Varsity Head Coach, Mike Firenzi explains the reasoning as to why the JV team wasn’t going to work this year.
“It wasn’t an easy decision to make because I knew it would affect some players,” Firenzi said. “We didn’t have a coach, and without a head coach we couldn’t [make the JV team] work.”
Sophomore Isaac Nikfar, a former player on last year’s freshman and JV teams, recently stepped away from the sport and shared his perspective on the changes. Nikfar was one of the few sophomores placed on the freshman team this season, and he shared that the experience had started to take a toll on his mental health. He cited social pressures, self-doubt and a lack of enjoyment, in part due to the level of play. These challenges ultimately left him to leave the team.
“It’s quite the situation to be in. I hope this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Nikfar said.
For Nikfar and the three other sophomores on the freshman team, the season has been different from their previous year, as they are playing against younger and often less competitive teams.
“[The season] is heavy. There’s a heavy mental load. I was a starter on the JV team last year, and then I went down a team,” Nikfar said.
Nikfar explained that his change affected both his mental health and that of other teammates. He also mentioned a drop in motivation among some sophomores due to the lower level of competition.
“The competition level is low, and it has been hurting the team’s baseball skill, and the team is dragging me down because there’s less competition,” said Nikfar.
Freshman Cade Jaffee agrees that the competition is lacking and would prefer more intense matchups.
“I would rather there be a JV team so I can play against kids my skill level instead of just dominating,” Jaffee said.
According to Jaffee, the change in team structure is also impacting development opportunities for both sophomores and freshmen. With sophomores getting more playing time, some freshmen are seeing fewer opportunities on the field.
“[Freshman] are disappointed with sophomores being on the team because they are stealing playing time,” Jaffee said.
Freshman athletes are receiving less in-game experience due to the presence of older players. Despite the structural changes, the team has continued to perform well, maintaining a focus on winning.
“In the end, I would change nothing about the program because the school’s baseball wins. It’s win, win, win,” Jaffee said.
Hopefully, the JV baseball team won’t be permanently eliminated from the program.
“My hope is this group [of freshman] move up to JV next year, so we’re going to [hopefully] bring our JV team back,” Firenzi said.
