Opinion by Jonah Greenfeld ’27
Middle school Wolverine baseball player Andrew Rindone ’27 has been playing baseball for over eight years. He now plays for Legacy Baseball Group, a club baseball team in Los Angeles.
During the first half of the 2023 season, he was a standout performer for his team. A lefty in the field who bats right, Rindone is a valuable asset to his team. First base, the outfield, and the pitcher’s mound are where he calls home.
So far this year, he has been outstanding at the plate. Hitting in the early part of the lineup and consistently getting on base. He is hitting .323 with a .480 on-base percentage. He has 14 singles and 2 doubles in the innings he’s played. In the field, he has been playing well. Rindone being left-handed, gives him an advantage at certain positions like 1st base.
His team has a lack of left pitchers, so his talent on the mound is a critical aspect of his team’s success. So far this year Rindone has been pitching well. In 12.0 innings Rindone has a 2.0 ERA, and he has given up 3 runs, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He has a fastball, changeup and a nasty curve. He peaks out and around 69 mph.
Rindone is a key part of his team. He has a love and passion for the game that started and has been growing since he was young.
“I aspire to make the varsity baseball team,” Rindone said. “I hope to be able to throw mid to high 80s and make varsity before senior year.”
He understands the demand that playing a varsity sport such as baseball entails, but he is excited nonetheless.
“That is what should happen. If the workload is too much I may have to quit. But, as for now, that is the goal and desire.”
Even though he is excited, he is also aware of the challenge it provides. Not only will the sport itself be a challenge but it will also affect his academic and social life. In a school like Harvard-Westlake the combination of workload and such a demanding extracurricular may be too much for some students. Rindone hopes to maintain high levels in academics as well as athletics.
“I feel good about the amount of work I have. Although there is the occasional late night, I can fit in lifting, baseball practice, homework, and dinner all in before 10:30.”
He did say that he is aware that will change in high school. He knows both the after school activities and the academics will be much more intense and time consuming. One issue Rindone faces is living far away from school. He has to wake up at 5:30 a.m. It takes him approximately two hours each day to go to and from school. This issue is made worse with his baseball practice. To go to practice he must stay late at school and then go from school to the field. The practice itself plus all the driving takes about three hours.
Between the driving, the practices, the training, and the games and tournaments on the weekend he plays for between 15-20 hours per week. That number will only go up once he reaches the upper school. Also, he will have even more homework. The lack of sleep is also an issue for many students. Students like Rindone have to wake up very early to arrive on time at school. With after-school activities and all his school work Rindone often finds himself going to sleep a around 11:30 p.m. Meaning he only gets six hours of sleep. Which will be even less in high school. This is a struggle many of his fellow peers at HW feel.
These issues impact not only Rindone’s academic life and his ability to get work done but also his social life. He lives far from many of his friends. Which makes hanging out more difficult. With practice and homework during the weekdays Rindone doesn’t have as much free time. Often, games and tournaments prevent him from being with friends.
“Sometimes I cant hang out or do fun things,” he said. “Games on the weekend take up so much time, and we even have practice on Friday nights.”
Even though he is aware of the challenge, Rindone is embracing it and is excited to play baseball in high school and be a student-athlete. He is hopeful that he will be able to manage his time with schoolwork and extracurricular. He faces a problem common to many of his HW students. How to balance extracurricular, academic and social life? And to get some sleep? This is the question all HW students seem to be asking.
