Apr 27, 2018
School rivalries have played a huge role in high school sporting events since the beginning of competitive sports. West rivalry against the Topsail baseball teams stands out among others. A rivalry between these two powerhouse teams really escalated once the two started having bitter close games; when the teams match up, it is expected to be a confrontational match up each year. With fans and players included stirring up arguments, the games between West and Topsail get intense; in the past, players and coaches have been known to be thrown out of games.
Senior Left Fielder, Jelen Jones-Bay, has little patience for the Topsail team.
“I hate them, always talking junk to our players and fans,” said Jones-Bay. “One of the players started arguing with my mom and talking bad about her.”
The JV Baseball team has even gotten into some confrontations over the years, which has led to intense games in the past. Junior First Baseman, Jacob Stocks, has had experiences in the past with the Topsail players.
“Last year on JV, their shortstop started taunting me and trying to make me lose focus,” said Stocks. “I kept my cool and played the game, but that shortstop better hope he doesn’t catch me on a bad day.”
Last season during a fourth round playoff run, the Varsity boys in an intense matchup. After a long and enduring game, Topsail emerged victorious, but not without a fight. At the time, sophomore DH, Hunter Nicoll, had a clutch moment to keep the game going for the Trojans.
“I got put in a tough situation with bases loaded to keep the game going, and I pulled through to get a base-hit and keep us going,” said Nicoll. “That made it so much more painful to lose to them, which made the rivalry between us much more intense.”
The players have had their ups and downs against this team, leading to the intense rivalry between them. Both teams find great success in the conference and play-off games; by pushing each other further into a persisting conflict, they have improved in skill and ways to maintain through pressure. The next matchup between the two teams is May 3rd at home.
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