Sunflower Seed spitting team prepares for baseball season

On March 23, the sunflower seed spitting team made history as they played Beverly Hills High School, Samo’s rival, in a baseball game. The game was close, but Samo was able to defeat the Normans for the very first time in their final sunflower seed spitting competition of the year. Coach Torre inspired the boys before the first inning with a passionate speech about the struggle represented and the honor implied while wearing the Samo uniform.“There is a certain level of pride and dignity we must withhold as we define the moments that will leave our numbers among the legends before us,” Torre said. “The art of spitting is one that must be refined every day and in the long hours of the night when all we have left is sweat and the digits of our distance record.”Team captain Jess Bumbarner (’17) had a magnificent performance, as he set a school record of 22 feet.“I feel blessed that I have been given the chance to play the sport. I now live and breathe sunflower seeds,” Bumbarner said. “I am so proud of my teammates and how far we have come as a brotherhood, but now it is time to set the bag of seeds down and pick up the gloves.”The first baseball game will be on March 31, the last day before Spring Break. The team is currently preparing by working hard on the field and in the batting cages, although the Coach had to prohibit the use of sunflower seeds in a five mile radius of the field.“Today we will pick up a white ball with bleeding seams and shape our destinies, but we must never forget our roots and where we learned to love the sport and the stories of our beloved sunflower seeds,” Torre said.