Time is running out for the baseball team, but perhaps even more so for several Redhawks that have been playing together for nearly a decade.

For seniors Chandler Benson, Will Glatch, Braxton Brown, and junior Cade McGarrh, each game in the playoffs could mark the end of nearly 10 years as teammates.

“Having grown up playing with the same boys has built a special connection between us,” Brown said. “Due to us playing together for so long we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and ways to motivate each other. Our relationships off the field are even stronger since we know each other so we’ll. A key aspect to great teams is team chemistry. Playing together has made our team stronger and has given us an advantage over other teams.”

It’s not just the fact they are life long teammates that is so unique, it’s that three of the four of them will be continuing their baseball careers in college. 

Chandler Benson – University of Nebraska for baseball 

Will Glatch- McLennan College for baseball

Braxton Brown – University of Oklahoma

Cade McGarrh- Texas Tech University for baseball

“I think the big thing that sets us apart from everybody is just our dedication and our time that we put into the sport when we were younger,” Benson said. “Our parents pushing us to go do whatever we could to get better at the sport whenever we were available to go do it and I just think that’s really what put us where we are today and made us the kids who we are because of just the dedication that we had early on in the sport.”

Head coach Scott McGarrh has been there since the beginning, and has watched these athletes grow up. 

“I kind of helped coach the team because I could coach them when they’re in elementary school, but once they get to middle school I couldn’t coach,” coach McGarrh said. “They played together, eight, nine and 10 and in a couple of them sort of went different ways, but I still was able to watch them.”

For the boys’, the bond that has been created since the beginning is what is cherished the most.

“It’s really something special. The bond we have and the connection is all different in its own ways,” Cade McGarrh said. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. But we also know each other really well, spending all summer together, then coming to school and playing again for our school. It’s really something special.” 

But the bond doesn’t stop at the players, it extends to the parents as well.

“Watching them play together again is wonderful and bittersweet,” Will’s mom LuAnn Glatch said. “They have so many shared memories and we have just as many with all their parents, who are all our dear friends.”

Having played together for years already, the talent of the quartet was quickly noticed on the high school level, but they weren’t welcomed with open arms at first. 

“When those kids came, because they played at such a high level for so long, it at first, it kind of hurt a little bit because at a young age, they were taking spots from older kids,” coach McGarrh said. “And then when the older kids just realized man they’re really good. It really started coming together.” 

While their talent is obvious on the field, it’s other traits that stand out even more to their head coach.

“These kids truly care about each other,” coach McGarrh said. “I haven’t had very many teams in 25 years that care the way that these kids do about each other. They all genuinely want them to be successful, you know a lot of times you have kids who when they’re not playing they want to win but ‘he’s got my spot’. You know if ‘he misses a couple balls, maybe I can play,’ never had that feeling here with this group.”

But the closeness of the four, and the entire Redhawks team, extends well beyond the baseball diamond. 

“If you were to go by Wataburger, or wherever they go and eat, It’s not the same for kids sitting at one table, they’re all kind of sitting together and they’re all included which is crazy because, you know, that typically just doesn’t happen,” coach McGarrh said. “You usually have three or four here and four or five here when they leave the field. You will see different kids walk in with different kids in the hallway, you’ll see different kids sit with different kids if you go out the field, you’ll watch them play catch with different kids, and it’s just unique.” 

It’s the interactions like those that leaves the team feeling closer than just teammates.

“I mean we’ve all been really good friends since we started playing baseball,” Will Glatch said. “We always have been, we’ve always hung out together. Off the field and it’s just, it’s almost like we’re brothers.”

Having been with them for years, coach McGarrh isn’t quite ready for this chapter to end.

“I know I was emotional on senior night,” coach McGarrh said. “I had to wear my glasses. I cried out for every one of them, every single one of those kids. You know, because it’s just been a special group to coach.”

Playing together for nearly a decade, Will Glatch knows when the playoffs end, they will all be going their separate ways.

“It’s sad because I know at this point we probably won’t ever be all together again and may see each other down the road somewhere playing against each other in college,” Will Glatch said. “But we’ll never get to have a team wherever we’re all four together again, and I mean it’s disappointing but it’s been super fun.”

Even when the four go their separate ways, they hope to see each other again.

“I mean hopefully I’ll see some of these boys in the College World Series or something,” Benson said. 

As Benson, Glatch, and Brown prepare for their final games as Redhawks, junior Cade McGarrh faces his final season of high school without the other three.

“Next year it’s going to be hard to let these guys go,” Cade McGarrh said. “We’ve built such an unbreakable bond and that’s going to be hard to let go. But these guys are taking their next steps and  I’m happy for all three of them.”