During his final high school baseball season, senior and captain Torsten Hersom has enjoyed hanging out with his teammates and getting food with them after practices and games.
Hersom was influenced to play baseball by his dad when he was around three years old, hitting wiffle balls so that he could practice. While he used to play other sports like indoor soccer, flag football, and basketball, he ultimately chose baseball as his main sport during his freshman year.
“I found it easier just to balance out playing one sport with school, and just putting all my attention into one sport and focusing on training for one specific thing instead of multiple,” Hersom said.
Hersom has found success on La Salle’s baseball team, playing shortstop and second base.
He has especially enjoyed this year’s sports season so far, saying that the team chemistry has never been better. Hersom said that the goal for him and his teammates was to build up the team in a way that players could succeed and enjoy hanging out with each other during and outside of practice.
“As seniors, like my class, we definitely at the start tried to kind of build up this different kind of motto for the season, just really trying to be all together as one,” Hersom said.
Together, Hersom and his teammates will all go out to get food after the last game of every week. This can also include offers from their coach, where, according to Hersom, he will get the team milkshakes and drinks if they “sweep the entire weekend.”
Hersom said that he finds it very easy to get along with his teammates. “I’m very close with all the guys on the team,” he said, regardless of what grade they’re in.
Along with high school baseball, Hersom also plays club baseball, which typically takes place during the summer. Traveling to Arizona and Texas with his club team, Hersom said that going out of state increases the level of competition.
Hersom is always looking for ways to improve by practicing hitting on the weekends and using the facilities made available by coaches for players. Hersom puts in this extra effort because “what you do outside of practice is what’s really going to count,” he said.
Hersom not only plays baseball, but he also watches a lot of the sport, mostly MLB and college baseball. His favorite MLB team right now is the Boston Red Sox, and he enjoys watching college teams like Oregon and Florida State.
Some of Hersom’s favorite players that he looks up to are Mookie Betts, Jarred Duran, and Bobby Witt Jr. These are players that “go out every day with the same passion and positive attitudes towards everything,” Hersom said, finding it helpful to reflect these player’s attitudes while he is playing.
Looking towards the future as his senior year comes to an end, Hersom has recently committed to play at the next level at Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. His goal is to continue to improve and eventually transfer to a Division I school for baseball.
