The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy baseball team’s season ended in a state tournament loss last week.

In Coach Joey Seal’s first year as the team head coach, NSA was able to experience many things. After starting slowly, losing six of their first nine games, they were able to turn it around and put together a nine-game winning streak. That started some momentum for the Saints as they went throughout conference play with a chance to possibly share a conference title.

Throughout the season, they were ranked among the top seven in state polls and lost their state quarterfinal game to Steward School 2-1. The Saints were unable to get much going that game aside from some strong pitching by Nic Psimas. He struck out 11 batters and allowed only three hits.

NSA didn’t score its first run until the fifth inning after already being down 2-0. However, Seal was proud of his guys and the things they were able to fight through during the season.

“The guys came together this season and showed we were better than what we were showing,” Seal said. “We knew if we played as a team we could be pretty special and I think we showed that. During the last 13 games, we went 10-3, and that was pretty impressive. I couldn’t be more proud of how they responded.”

Seal mentioned that it could have been easy for the players to abandon the system when it didn’t work right away. With him being a new coach, the players could have reverted to what they already knew.

“Coming in, I had no idea how they would respond,” Seal said. “They came in and embraced everything. After the offseason, it felt like we had been around each other for three or four years. I give credit to Coach Mitchell for having the work ethic set here. It was really cool to see them adapt to what we were teaching.”

Because of the success NSA had this season, they had five players make All-Conference. Zac Morris and Nic Psimas made the All-State teams with Morris making the first team and Psimas making the second. Morris was also a first team All-Conference selection.

The senior class made an impact its last year, and some of them will be playing in college as well. Seal is excited about what he has returning and feels they can build on the late-season success they had this season.

Steward School 2, NSA 1

SS 1 0 1 0 0 0 0—2

NSA 0 0 0 0 1 0 0—1

SS: Hits 3—Brown, Glazebrook, White; Runs 2—White 2; RBI 2—Glazebrook, Brown

NSA: Hits 3—Tew, Conway, Anselm; Runs 1—Minor; RBI 1—Anselm