The grass is green, the sun is out and boys’ baseball is back. The Niles West boys’ baseball season is in full swing as the boys get ready to make it a great season and improve on their negatives from last year.

For senior captain Alex Cherian, approaching their faults last year and building up from that is crucial for a successful season.

“Something that we’re trying to improve as a team is our defense. Our offense is there with other teams in the conference. I feel like if we’re able to work on our defense, we’ll be able to win games against some of the top teams in our conference,” Cherian said.

As for the other senior captain Brendan Som, winning regionals is something that him and his team hope to achieve.

“I’m looking forward to facing opponents that we lost to last season and hopefully winning regionals. Our team has been working in the weight room this off-season, so I can’t wait to see how far we can go.” Som said.

After an impressive home opener performance, Som is in high hopes as to what the team can accomplish this year.

“Last year we lost to Lane Tech in the second round of regionals, but just this past week we beat them in our home opener 6-3, so we can definitely do some damage this year,” Som stated.

Being able to compete and be aggressive is just some of the goals head coach Mitchell Stern has for his boys.

“Our goal every time we step out onto the field is to play winning baseball, compete, and play hard, that’s it. We’re an aggressive team and I want them to step onto the field playing with confidence so they can play winning baseball,” Stern said.

Having fun is something Stern hopes to see out of the boys this season.

“Just the philosophy of the program and making sure the players buy into the concept of being apart of the team, and having fun. Having fun is what baseball is all about, we play the game because we love it.” Stern stated.

The Wolves opened their season with a 6-3 win against a tough Lane Tech and fell short against a strong Loyola Academy team.

“We had a couple very competitive games to start out with and we’re playing March baseball, which hopefully isn’t your best baseball. Early in the season you don’t want to be playing your best baseball,” Stern said.

The Wolves will be in action Thursday afternoon against Notre Dame at 4:30 PM on our home field.