By Delaney Smith and Sydney Sears

As junior Brandon Smith takes the mound, the pressure is on. He is focused and ready to take on FC’s biggest rival, New Albany.

“Because of the school’s rivalry with New Albany, it’s not a hard game to get ready for,” said coach Casey LaDuke.

In the first inning NA was up by two runs, but that did not get the team down.

“We played well. It was nice to see us fight back after being down 2-0 in the 1st inning,” said LaDuke.

Nerves were spreading to the stands as the game was approaching the sixth inning. The scores were close with only a one run lead over NA.

“In the middle of the game I was very nervous because of the scores being so close, but as the game progressed FC started scoring runs and I became more relaxed,” said junior Cat Northam.

The sixth inning is really when FC seemed to come alive. The team scored seven runs and  FC’s crowd was on their feet cheering.

“It was nice to see us separate from them, in a close game, by having a 7 run 6th inning,” said LaDuke.

With a 12-4 win for FC the team was ecstatic.

“I was so pumped at the end of the game,” said Smith.

As the student section started filing out of the stands there was a great sense of pride and excitement in the air.

“As always, I left the game a proud highlander,” said Northam