Ping! Ping! Ping! Over and over repeated sounds of balls connecting with an aluminum bat fill the surrounding air. The creator of these ping noises is the one and only senior Steven Fennelly. Fennelly hones his skills at the local batting cage down at Ray Smalling Field, preparing for his senior season of high school baseball. Fennelly practices baseball in the off-season so much that some may call it an addiction. “I want to make sure I get the most out of my potential,” Fennelly said. “I want to go out with a bang.” When the weather is too cold to be outside, Fennelly heads out to the All Star Sports Academy where there are indoor batting cages, to take some cuts. If you had to name someone who was the hardest worker on the baseball team, it would probably have to be Mr. Fennelly. Fennelly does not only spend his time on baseball, as some of you may assume. Fennelly was a second-team all conference quarterback for the football team this fall, and had them competing for a playoff spot. Many players gained great admiration for Fennelly after he handled himself very well through a rough season. He set a good example of what toughness is for the younger players. “It wasn’t the year we wanted,” Fennelly said. “But we made a lot of great memories.” Fennelly also was a participant on the I-Ball championship team, the Motorboats. He could knock down the three pointers every once in a while and he kept the competitive spirit up for his team. “I was definitely the heart and soul of the team,” an excited Fennelly said. Fennelly started off his high school career playing for the freshmen basketball team, but he decided to focus his talents on the less time consuming I-Ball season. He even led his team to the championship his sophomore year, which adds up to two I-Ball champion shirts that he stores in his closet. However, though Fennelly plays quite a bit of basketball, his true love is baseball and he bases his life around it. His favorite MLB team is the St. Louis Cardinals, and he is pumped about them having the chance to repeat as World Series champions. Fennelly is the starting third basemen for the Lil’ Cyclones baseball team and is one of the veteran leaders. He has made it his goal to help the team reach the state tournament and play at the beautiful Principal Park in Des Moines. “Everyday we come to the park to reach our goal, which is to make the state tourney at the end of the season,” Fennelly said. Fennelly is not all about sports though. He loves comedy movies and does not get tired of quoting them. One of his most favorite movies is the classic, Dumb and Dumber, a movie that never gets old. He also likes Wedding Crashers, Anchorman, and Old School. So if you want to share a laugh, ask Fennelly for a movie line and he will give it to you. “You guys finally write an article about me and totally redeem yourselves,” Fennelly said. Basically, Fennelly is a sports fanatic and he aspires to be a coach someday. But he will wait to pursue those dreams until after he leads his baseball team to the coveted state tournament.