Last year the Lafayette Rams baseball team came back to Williamsburg with a class 4A state championship. The Lafayette Rams varsity baseball team had a solid regular season last year with a record 13 wins and 7 losses, which meant they were underdogs going into the post season. Once their win streak started they made quick work through playoffs and started to make a name for themselves in regionals, while they crushed Midlothian in the quarter-finals 8-0. In the state semifinals Lafayette had to face one of their biggest challenges yet, Liberty Christian, the best team in the state which drove Lafayette to beat LCA by 6 runs. Finally came the state championship, Lafayette vs. Riverside; this was perhaps one of Lafayette’s best games, with scores going back and forth the whole game.  Lafayette managed to come through on top with a final score of 9 to 8.

Rams varsity is hoping to win another state championship this year. The 2020 team looks like they are the ones who can do it with 6 seniors, one of them being a Randolph Macon commit Drew Ramos. The Rams are also very fundamental team that likes to put pressure on their opponent with all around speed and a defense that can back it up.

A new addition to the varsity team is a new head coach, Coach Basanes.  Formerly an assistant coach at Grafton last year, he has a lot of experience to bring to the table. Coach Basanes is very organized and very disciplined, and has big plans for the team.

Sophomore Luke Hanson, shortstop for the team, stated, “This year with the new head coach is going to be a really good season because of how Coach Basanes runs the team and program and with him as a new coach we will have a very good chance to repeat.”

The JV baseball team won the Bay River district last year, with a record of 9-3; unlike varsity, JV does not have playoffs. The junior varsity team is looking to better than last year with returning sophomores Blake Townsend and Tristan Hiestand, and additional talent in the new freshman class with more speed and power. JV also got a new coach with a baseball background, Coach Hunter, who has a great baseball IQ and teaches the players how to the game the right way. Freshman and first baseman on the team Logan Oliver said, “Coach Hunter is a great coach, who cares about the kids and is very enthusiastic.”

The Lafayette Rams baseball organization is going to be fun to watch this year, with the varsity team coming off a state championship win and having a new baseball coach to match the talent coming from the players. The team is already strong early in the season, and eager to play their first  game against Rappahanock on March 16 at the Wisc. Meanwhile, the JV team is looking to start the season off hot and win the Bay Rivers again. The 2020 season for both Lafayette baseball teams are going to be a challenge with high expectations, but the players and coaches are ready to live up to the high bar that’s been set.