Being the only freshman on the varsity baseball team is no big deal to No. 15 Jared Southard. But the freshman is making a huge impact on both sides of the ball. Southard’s is one of the leading hitters for varsity and he’s also behind the plate, as the team’s starting catcher.

“He is good and he works really hard,” junior Colton Mitchell said. “And he definitely has what it takes.”

In 16 games, the freshman has 18 hits and a .346 batting average.

“It’s going pretty good,” Southard said. “I’m hitting the best on the team right now, best batting average. We’re working.”

Senior Michael Wells witnessed Southard’s hot streak during tournament season before district began.

“It’s a team effort but he does put a lot like single individual effort into the team,” Wells said. “So I mean he is a good catcher. He has got three more years after this to get even better.”

Despite being the youngest member, Southard says he’s feels like he’s been on the team the whole time. His teammates have also seen how well he’s acclimated to the varsity dugout.

“He plays hard like us,” Wells said. “He fits in pretty well so he kinda made friends real quick. It’s kinda more of like a brotherhood than just a team.”

As one of the team’s pitchers, junior Brady Kaloustian has worked closely with the freshman catcher, and isn’t afraid to joke around with the lone freshman.

“I think he is doing really good,” Kaloustian said. “I mean he probably has the best batting average and he has been getting along well with the team. Like at the beginning of the year he was really nervous, but now he is actually like coming in with us so it is a lot better.”

Last year, a freshman pitcher made the varsity team. Southard is keeping the trend going this year.

“Our guys are extremely accepting of all kids, doesn’t matter what their classification is,” coach Paul Cochran said. “We have a good group of guys like that.”