Fifteen of the Parkway North staff upset the reigning champions Nov. 9 with a commanding score of 11-7 at the staff vs student kickball game. This is the first time teachers have won a “Staff vs. Students kickball” competition since 2019, when the staff became repeat champions. The teachers’ field play was so dominant that the students didn’t score a run until the top of the 4th-inning in a 7-inning match. 

A huge part of the teachers’ success was due to their peak-athletic center-fielder, junior principal Michael Zitzer. 

“They should have never kicked [the ball] at me,” said Zizter. “They probably had a better chance of kicking it anywhere but towards me, but they insisted at kicking at me, and it was an out every time.” 

Zitzer was everywhere out on the field resulting in six outs. However, nothing happens on the field without pitching. Business teacher Russel Vincent pitched an outstanding game that threw the students off their game. It seemed as if students were too scared to kick every other pitch. 

“I actually looked up the World Kickball Association rules, and they weren’t even calling some of my strikes,” said Mr. Vincent. “My pitching abilities are great and I won, as a winning pitcher.” 

The teachers during the game definitely had something which the student athletes lacked. That thing was communication. On the defensive side of the ball, there were countless dropped fly-outs due to collisions. 

“We beat ourselves,” said team captain Eli Tritinger. “In the first inning, I could tell that we were losing. We had no communication, no teamwork, no nothing. There was no sense of team.”

Many of the students are very disappointed in themselves after their performance, but they also say they will carry that feeling into the next year in order to fuel their victories. The team may make some roster. 

“I’ll be back next year. I won’t be a coach; I’ll be a player,” said Junior Keylan Mitchell. “The other team had fifteen players, we only had nine. We need to add some players to compete.” 

The staff was not the only winner of this competition. The game raised over $400 for the Siteman Cancer Center, which is a part of Barnes-Jewish Hospital and is a leading cancer treatment center globally. Spectators were charged a $1 entry fee, and all proceeds went to help their mission. 

The next two competitions will be basketball and volleyball, which will happen during the spring. Basketball is set on Feb. 10 and volleyball is on April 26.