Swinging into the Holidays

By Sophia Vaughan

Sports Editor

 The Mira Costa baseball team went swinging into the holidays this season with the team’s annual Christmas tree lot at the Mira Costa student parking lot.

 Players sold Christmas trees to friends, family, and members of the community. The trees were pre-ordered by form, and could either be delivered to homes on Dec. 6 or picked up at the tree lot on Dec.7. Costa also put on a holiday raffle, with prizes such as a Trilogy Spa Getaway, $1,000 cash, and Lakers tickets. The tree lot and raffle event is baseball’s major fundraiser every year and helps raise the funds for the baseball program’s essentials, according to senior Kyle Karros.

 “The Christmas tree sale is something we do every year in order to fundraise for the upcoming season. This money will go toward team trips, new uniforms, field maintenance, and everything it takes to run a high school baseball program,” Karros said. 

 Last year, Costa had a successful season,  winning the Bay League championship against rival Redondo Union High School, and the Mustangs battled all the way to the CIF quarterfinals. This year, baseball’s season will kick off in February, and the team’s schedule has yet to be released. In the offseason, the Mustangs have been weightlifting and having field practices. For now, the Mustangs enjoyed using the Christmas tree fundraiser as an opportunity to bond as team before their regular season starts. According to Karros, the highlight was when the team turned the student parking lot into a makeshift tree lot for the day.

“My favorite part of selling trees is the tree lot,” Karros said. “It’s the day when people from the community come and pick out the tree or get their tree delivered. Sure, it’s stressful and brutal carrying all those trees, but just going through it with my teammates just makes it a memory that will be with me forever.”