Year after year, many spring sports teams have had successful regular seasons, only to be defeated by private schools in the postseason. This leads to the question if this is the year the spring sports teams can break the monopoly of private schools in state 5A competition.

Girls soccer has fallen to a private school every year of post season since 2009. Head coach Arlan Vomhof has noticed a competitive atmosphere between public and private schools that is different from that of public schools versus public schools.

“It’s always been a factor. I’ve been a head coach for 18 years, it’s always the same thing of ‘oh, they can recruit, they don’t have to follow some of the same guidelines [as public schools],’” Vomhof said. “And coaches have been trying for a long time to get the state to have a public and private postseason championship. I think you always know going against one of those schools is going to be a tough match.”

Baseball fell to Bishop Carroll at state in both 2012 and 2013. Senior outfielder Nick Wilson believes that private schools hold themselves in higher esteems, making them a difficult opponent to lose to.

“You know [private schools] have the slight advantages that we don’t have, such as recruiting,” Wilson said. “The fact that they carry themselves differently than public schools, they seem a little cockier, so [losing to them] does sting a little bit more.”

Vomhof has noticed private schools utilize their history of success to their advantage in regards to gaining players.

“I think the private schools lure people because of state championships,” Vomhof said. “Some of those programs win and have won so much in the past that people opt to go there because they want their kid to be on the state championship team, so they pay the money to go there.”

However, senior softball firstbaseman Jordan Blair thinks public schools advantage is having a wide variety of players. Despite this, softball was defeated by Bishop Carroll 5-0 at state on Friday, May 24, 2013.

“Private schools have the means to hand pick their teams,” Blair said. “We kind of play with the cards we are dealt and do the best we can.”

Sophomore outside midfielder Emma Wetzel said the soccer team plans on redeeming itself this year, after its most recent state loss of 2-1 against Bishop Carroll on Friday, May 31, 2013.

“We’re always going to keep the state loss in our mind,” Wetzel said. “We wanted it just as bad as they did, and we’re going to do whatever we can to get it back.”

Wilson said the baseball team would also like to redeem themselves at state.

“It’s not really the fact that it’s a private school, it’s the fact that they have those advantages that you kind of wish you could use,” Wilson said. “But you’d rather beat them and show that your school doesn’t need those advantages. We just want to beat everybody.