With the great start to the men’s baseball team this year, it is fair to say that the men’s sports at JC have outperformed women’s sports overall this year. Overall, the top men’s teams have outperformed the top women’s teams.

For the unknowing bystander, this does not seem like that big of a deal. But, for a long period, the girl’s sports teams have been dominant. The women’s national championship in 2008 for the women’s lacrosse team confirmed this dominance, but this gap between the two sexes seems to be shrinking.

In baseball, JC topped previous MIAA favorites Calvert Hall and Gilman, who were ranked first and second in the metro at the time. The power hitting of seniors Brendan Butler, who is heading to Towson, and Maryland-bound KJ Hockaday has led the Patriots in the offense, with a combination of six home runs throughout the first four conference games.

University of North Carolina Asheville committed Trent Shaw and Chestnut Hill University committed Nick Naumann have also chipped into the hitting, while seniors Ryan Kirby and Dave McGee have led a solid pitching staff.

On the other hand, the traditionally strong women’s lacrosse team has struggled to build chemistry following the graduation of a few of their best players. In their second game of the season, they lost to perennial powerhouse McDonough, 23-12. This loss dropped them from third in the metro all the way down to ninth. The team will probably rebound as they usually do, but this season still has not gotten off to a great start like it usually does.

In an ideal world, JC would be dominant at all sports. But, unfortunately, consistency isn’t always present. Teams will dominate for a few years, and then fall back to the middle of the pack. Hopefully, the sports teams with success this year will continue, and the teams with off years will make a comeback.

It is always good to see something new, but more importantly men’s sports naturally get more attention, which could bring in more athletes and continue the cycle of good sports. Many potential students first look at sports, so this success could also help the school grow in size.

Henry Shepard is a reporter for “The Patriot” and jcpatriot.com.