By Chris Agnone ’18
THE ROUNDUP
With tryouts for varsity baseball lasting three days Feb. 9-12, sophomore Lucas Grennan ’18 knew he had to give full effort the whole time.
His dedication and effort put him on the varsity squad as the youngest player and youngest starter for the 2016 season.
“Sophomores making the varsity team is a huge deal because of how rare it is at Brophy,” said Jake Lieberman ’16. “You truly have to be very advanced, especially for baseball.”
Grennan is starting this year at second base after an injury to Lieberman early on in the season.
Grennan has been playing baseball for a long time.
“I think I have been playing baseball for as long as I remember,” Grennan said. “I think I joined my first t-ball team when I was four years old.”
For Grennan, baseball is his primary athletic focus, but he also played multiple other sports as a kid, such as basketball, flag football, soccer and swimming.
Along with baseball, Grennan said he puts his work ethic and effort into his academic work. He is balancing baseball with Honors Geometry, Honors English 2 and AP U.S. History.
“My season on the field has started off pretty strong,” Grennan said. “I am hitting about .300. My goal is to get on base as much as I can and make things happen on the bases.”
The fact that he is the youngest player on the team does not phase him.
“I don’t really like to see myself as the youngest player on the team,” Grennan said. “I do not feel like it makes it ok for me to be average or make mistakes. I have very high expectations for myself, so I always try to play hard and to the best of my ability.”
The team also supports his big step up.
“We laid out the dynamic of the team in the beginning and took him under our wing,” said Mitch Anderson ’16. “He has grown a lot already and will grow a lot this year and the whole team has noticed.”
Grennan’s teammates agree with his attitude of earning a spot.
“Lucas is a workhorse,” Anderson said when asked about Lucas’s place on the team. “He leaves it all on the field and never complains. He earns his spot on the team”
Grennan also said that he realizes he is not “the man” and that he is there to help the team win, not just be under the spotlight.
“His attitude is something that will lead him to be a leader the next two years,” Lieberman said. “His class will catch up to him next year on varsity, and it will be his job to show the guys his age the ropes of varsity baseball.”
With those high expectations and attitude, Grennan said he is working hard for a chance to play in college and, eventually, for a chance to play in the majors.
