“I do think softball is harder [than baseball],” the varsity boys coach Chris Robinson said “due to the fact that they pitch so close and the ball comes from a really weird angle.”

According to ESPN softball is harder than baseball because the field is half the size, making the game largely about speed.  Despite which game is harder, both games seem to be loved equally.

“Baseball is actually harder than softball because the ball is smaller,” senior and third baseman for the varsity softball team Charlotte Balkus said. “I do think softball pitching is harder than baseball because of how they pitch.”

Baseball and softball do have differences. The size of the field, the ball and the way the ball is pitched all contrast, but both sports are played by fervent athletes.

“I started playing baseball when I was five or six because I really wanted to play,” sophomore and first baseman for varsity baseball Daniel Ballagh said. “Now, I play because it’s something that you really have to work at.”

The two are special to many athletes, whether they started playing in middle school like Balkus, or in elementary school, like Ballagh.

“I never played t-ball when I was little,” Balkus said. “I started playing softball in middle school and I really liked it. As much as a team sport as it is, I know my contributions are valued.”

Seniors Kolby Canfield and Rachel Smith believe that even though the sports are played differently, they can play against each other any day.

“Baseball is faster-paced,” Canfield said. “The baseball field is bigger than the smaller softball field, and you have to run farther in baseball.”

However, Smith thinks that softball is more difficult in this aspect.

“When we hit the ball, it doesn’t go as far, so we have to react faster,” Smith said.

Both players agree that the varsity baseball and softball teams need to play each other. To Canfield, Smith said, “I’ll talk to my coach about it

and you talk to yours.”

The games have been proven different by a professional softball player, Jennie Finch, for the same reasons that Balkus and coach Robinson express.

Finch, has pitched on many teams for the USA National Team and for the Chicago Bandits, a national professional softball team, and is the player who proved softball is actually harder than baseball.

“Sports Illustrated” noticed that Finch was the perfect person to help end the long debate. They had Finch pitch for pro-baseball players. One of them was Barry Bonds. He was stuck out. Not because he is a bad player, but because the way the softball is thrown compared to the baseball.

“If the varsity baseball team played against the varsity softball team I think we would win for sure. There is no way these boys would let the girls beat them,” Robinson said.