Raiders navigating treacherous waters

The Rice Raiders have been struggling this season on the baseball diamond, but they are in a good position moving forward.

Like the softball team the Raiders record is also not as glamorous as they hoped when the season started.

But also, like the softball team, they have the right pieces in place. The Raiders struggle on both sides of the ball and looking at the box score it is easy to say this team is objectively bad.

But looking below the box score and the scoreboard, digging a little deeper and looking at the minor details, the big picture, it’s actually easier to say this team has something cooking.

It’s hard to say exactly what they are going to turn into but watching the games and seeing the fundamentals and mechanics start to form more and more each game, this team is going to be special in the future.

The Raiders currently have a record of 6-15-1 and a district of 1-10 but every game minus a few outliers they have been competitive in.

They have played with a certain grit that is necessary to win games at any level. They are sacrificing life and limb to catch balls for outs defensively and to get extra bases offensively.

That coupled with the fact they are getting better as players with fundamentals and mechanics and overall awareness in the game. In other words, they are separating themselves from other last-place teams.

They know they are a team a lot of the teams at the top of the standings overlook but they don’t let that get to them and show up every game ready to play hard. They make every team earn which means they are keeping receipts with a lot of these teams, so they are of the mindset of let them have fun now because we’ll be back.

Next season when the Raiders take their next step, they are going to bring those receipts with them in district play and have some conversations with some of these teams.

The Raiders still have some games left to win a second and possibly a third district game, and they will do everything they can to get them and possibly upset Hallettsville, Columbus or Palacios in the coming weeks.