PASO ROBLES HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS AND JUNIORS GO HEAD TO HEAD IN THE FIRST EVER BLITZBALL GAME 

Taking the mound at Hernandez Field in Sherwood Park, senior Mick Barnett stares down his opponent standing at the plate, Rogelio Molina, prepared to throw the first pitch of the Crimson Blitzball Battle. In an action packed, two inning game based on baseball, blitzball is a sport that brings a certain spin to the game, literally. 

Blitzball is a rather new sport, only being introduced in July of 2021, and has only grown in popularity since. The game is named after the ball used, a Blitzball, which is like a wiffle ball, but has no curves, rather sharp edges going around the ball. With this, the ball can curve a lot more than a normal baseball, which is the basis to the game of blitzball. A batter steps up to the plate, with a physical strike zone behind them. It is up to the pitcher to hit this strike zone by any means possible with their pitches, and with the extreme curving of a blitzball, that is what brings the interesting and fun aspect into the game. At just two innings, two outs per inning, each team has to be careful about what they pitch and what they swing at. 

Facing off in the Crimson Blitzball Battle were two teams of two players, including Team Seniors and Team Juniors. Each team included a team captain and a rookie, with captains having a lot of experience to blitzball and rookies just getting introduced to the sport.

Meet the Teams

Team Seniors

Team Seniors was led by the captain, Conner Rocha, who has months of blitzball experience under his belt, and as a former baseball player himself, knows his way around the game. A star pitcher and hitter, he is an all in one blitzball player, and a formidable force on the field.

Team Seniors was also joined by their rookie, Mick Barnett, who is playing in his first ever blitzball game. Barnett is also a former baseball player, who is known for keeping an eye out between balls and strikes, and is really good at being able to draw a walk when needed.

Team JUNIORS

Team Juniors was led by their captain, Rogelio Molina, who has similar experience to Rocha. Months of blitzball, as well as being another former baseball player, Molina is known for his arsenal of pitches as well as his eagerness to swing the bat while at the plate.

Team Juniors was also joined by their rookie, Gavin Blythe, who is playing in only his second blitzball game ever. As a beginner, Blythe has been able to show that he can also just be as strong on the mound as his more experienced teammate, and can manage to get batters to swing at whatever he throws.