Alyson Griffith, BACS Softball
[Standing]: Ethan Gould, Avery Collins, Milla Martinez, MJ Sotirelis, Noah Box, Kaytlin Gadd and Olivia Chhlang; [Squatting]: William Fincher and Calvin Nguyen
The 2022 tennis season has come to a close for Bay Area Christian School, which sent a number of players to the TAPPS 4A State Tennis Tournament.
Madeline Sotirelis advanced in girls singles and Noah Box played in the boys singles. In the doubles competition, Olivia Chhlang and Claire Murphy made it in girls doubles and Jude Hebert and C. Bergvall reached the tournament in boys doubles
[Standing]: Ethan Gould, Avery Collins, Milla Martinez, MJ Sotirelis, Noah Box, Kaytlin Gadd and Olivia Chhlang; [Squatting]: William Fincher and Calvin Nguyen
The 2022 golf season was a solid one on the links for Bay Area Christian School.
At the District golf meet in April, the Broncos’ boys and girls golf squads each finished third overall as a team. Both teams qualified to move on to the Regional Tournament. Individually, Emma Iles finished as the District Champion and was in line for another all-state season.
Grace Jermstad, Treyton Showen, Caroline Bonnecaze, Andrew Boyd, Annelise Shaw, Micah Collins, Skylar Wilson, Wesley Barnes, Sam Stanley and John Beltre
The track season for Bay Area Christian was one that saw a lot of personal bests across the board.
At the TAPPS South Regional Meet in April, plenty of Broncos made noise advancing to the 2022 TAPPS State Track & Field Meet. The field was led by senior pole vaulter Micah Collins, who cleared a personal-best 15 feet to win the Regional Championship and advance to State, where he finished second a year ago.
Other top finishers for the Broncs at the Regional Championships included Trey Showen (3rd in the 800-meter run, 3rd in 1600-meter run, 4th in 3200-meter run), Sam Stanley (3rd in 100-meter hurdles), Caroline Bonnecaze (3rd in the 1600-meter run) and Andrew Boyd (4th in high jump). In the relays, BACS 4x200-meter girls relay team qualified for state with a time of 1:53.72.
“It’s good, we’re young,” BACS track & field coach Bret Sewell said. “It was a good year. I’m proud of this group right here. Especially for Micah, who had a difficult year last year.”
Throughout the season there were other top performers.
Sophomore Grace Jermstad had some solid performances in the high jump, clearing a personal best of 4-feet-10-inches in April. Bonnecaze also did the long jump as well and reached 14-feet-7.5-inches. Younger sister Lauren has arrived at BACS and excelled in the 100- and 200-meter dashes as a freshman with personal bests of 13.10 (100-meter) and 27.94 (200-meter). Bonnecaze finished fifth in the 100-meter dash in the Regional Championship.
The boys team was well balanced.
In the field events, Kade Sink found success in the shot put, reaching 41-feet1-inch as a personal best in April. On the oval, Scott Farine stood out in the 200-meter dash, a personalbest of 23.38 in April as a freshman.
Annelise Shaw, Emma Iles, Amanda Pollock, Gracie Rambin and Calley Bennett
As the Broncos entered this season, they were eyeing another run back to the TAPPS Final Four at year’s end.
Led by Schreiner University-signee Amanda Pollock (p), Calley Bennett (3B), Emma Iles (C, P, 3B), Gracie Rambin (SS) and Annelise Shaw (CF), the Broncos were primed for a big season. Other names to take note of from this past season were Allie Atwell, Alyson Griffith and Halle Hudgins.
Some of the highlights from the year included Pollock throwing a no-hitter against Westbrook in April, which capped a perfect district mark for Bay Area Christian School. Pollock at the end of district play had 10 wins and 77 strikeouts for the season.
Other highlight wins this season included defeating John Cooper School 8-4 and Alpha Omega 14-2.
[Back Row]: Jordan Medellin, Lane Escamilla, Ethan Mann and Adam Atwell; [Front Row]: Michael Tweed and Grayson Thallman
As the Bay Area Christian School Broncos headed into the 2022 season, the target was firmly on the backs of the defending TAPPS Division III State Champions.
The Broncos, which had 10 seniors on the roster this spring, opened the season with a sweep of Danbury, Beaumont United, Brazosport and Hitchcock High at the Hitchcock Tournament in February. In March, BACS backed that performance going 3-1 in the Father Wilson Tournament, capping it with a 6-4 win over John Cooper, and going 3-1 in the Franklin Tournament.
On April 1, the Broncos defeated Westbury Christian 19-4, which gave Broncos coach Kyle Kennedy career win No. 200.
The Broncos went on to cap a perfect district mark in April punch their ticket to the playoffs as the No. 1 seed from their district.
The 2022 squad was anchored by Baylor signee Jordan Medellin, who crushed the ball at the plate and was lights out on the bump all in the same night. Jeremy Goza and Lane Escamilla also came up big on the mound as well. Escamilla could also swing the stick, including going 3 for 3 with a home run, triple and six RBIs against Clear Brook, as did Michael Tweed, Reese Brewer, Adam Atwell and Grayson Thallman, Ethan Mann and Josh Flory.
Michael Tweed, BACS
He could be found in the wrestling mat room, the baseball diamond or the band hall. Tweed has signed to play baseball at Sterling College and was a member of the 2021 TAPPS State Title baseball team.
At the same time, he is the drum major for the band and is a talented saxophonist.
What can this kid not do?
VYPE caught up with the lead Bronco to find out what his secret to success has been while at Bay Area Christian.
...
VYPE: You were involved with band, wrestling and baseball at BACS. What was it like being a part of all three?
TWEED: At the end of the day, I was motivated by the fact that I really enjoy all of my pursuits. I was very fortunate that my parents encouraged me to try new things. They also encouraged me to set high academic performance standards so that doors would be open later on in college. This was also something that had to be factored into my personal time management equation.
VYPE: What did you learn from being the drum major for the band?
TWEED: It was a gratifying accomplishment. My father’s side of my family has deep musical roots including marching band. My grandfather was actually a high school band director and he discussed the importance of the drum major’s role many times. I applied for consideration as drum major for my senior year and attended a really great drum majors band camp. It opened my eyes to a lot of things, including how an effective leader is responsible for the actions of others and how leadership can inspire the performance of others in a team setting.
VYPE: What does it mean to you to be getting to play college baseball?
TWEED: It is a huge thrill and really means a lot. I have always wanted to play college ball, but also needed to find a school that could accommodate my academic goals – I’m looking to major in biology with a minor concentration in chemistry – as well. Having the opportunity to continue playing music is another huge bonus I was looking for. My goal was to find a school offering the same full range of activities that I have grown accustomed to while at Bay Area Christian although my athletic goal will be focused on only one sport this time. Sterling College turned out to be my best option to pursue all the activities I wanted to participate.
VYPE: What did you enjoy the most about attending Bay Area Christian?
TWEED: Attending Bay Area Christian School has been an opportunity of a lifetime. The entire experience has been filled with numerous blessings and many fond memories. The school has a relatively small student body that is more like a close-knit family, so it is a very supportive environment. It is a place where classmates are always rooting for you. I have so many great memories from the classroom, band, swimming, wrestling and baseball, but if I had to choose one, it would probably be the last game of the 2021 season when I was behind the plate catching the TAPPS Division III Championship Game, which we won. It took a while to realize what we had accomplished, since it was the very first State Championship in any boys’ sport in our school’s history, but looking back it was really amazing.
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