Bleach is not just for uniforms

Baseball bleaches their hair as they decide they need a clean slate.

Jarron+Wilcox+from+Billings%2C+Montana%2C+chose+to+bleach+his+hair+and+give+himself+a+mullet.+Transfer+sophomore+Wilcox+came+from+Phoenix%2C+Arizona+to+be+one+of+our+Saints+catchers.+

Ashanti Thompson

Jarron Wilcox from Billings, Montana, chose to bleach his hair and give himself a mullet. Transfer sophomore Wilcox came from Phoenix, Arizona to be one of our Saints catchers.

Sports superstitions are common in every athlete’s life, from how you wear your uniform to what you eat before the game. To certain individuals these rituals can decide how you play your game. Our Seward County Community College baseball team has officially created their own ritual with some positive outcomes. 

This whole story begins one day at practice when the team decided something needed to change. Coming off a four game losing streak, with some rough scores, a couple teammates messing around decided to come up with the idea of bleaching and shaving their hair. 

Freshman business major Cameron Cartwright from Parker, Colorado chose to shave then bleach the rest of his hair. With 14 home runs this year, Cartwright leads his team in number of homeruns hit this season. (Ashanti Thompson)

 

According to the team, it all began with Keagon Pitton, a freshman from Greely, Colorado by dyeing his hair, and freshman Cameron Cartwright from Parker, Colorado by shaving his head, and from there the rest is history. Others then join the bandwagon going to the store and buying box hair bleach. According to freshman from Erie, Colorado, Trenton Rowan, the entire process of shaving and bleaching his hair took around three hours, but deciding to commit to this took up 40 of those minutes. Some bleached and shaved their head and others chose to just bleach or shave their head.  

Rowan also has other game day superstitions such as the way he puts his shields on before he has an at bat and what he eats in the morning. Cartwright also is strict about what time he goes to bed before a game. 

To some this may seem odd, to dye one’s hair in hopes of winning games, but according to Cartwright “I just thought switch it up a little because we were doing good and then we struggled, so I was just like, let’s shave my head.”

Playing as our Saints third baseman is Trenton Rowan, who committed to both shaving and bleaching his hair. Rowan has a .392 batting average and a .831 fielding percentage. (Ashanti Thompson)

The teammates described this whole experience as going on a whim to change things up. Cartwright explained his mindset was a yolo moment rather than a thought through decision, but he does not regret it. Once one guy did it, everyone wanted to join the movement in hopes of helping the team. 

For the ones that didn’t do anything to their hair there were no repercussions. Sophomore criminal justice major from Billings Montana, Jarron Wilcox states, “No, we’re not gonna call someone out just because they didn’t want to do it, we will win with or without them.” This adventure was strictly voluntary to all teammates. 

After the bleaching was over, the Saints went on a ten game win streak afterwards. Whether you account this to the bleach or not, something on the team changed in a beneficial way. Cartwright, Rowan and Wilcox all agreed they 100% accounted their win streak to the decision to change their hairstyles. 

Whether you agree or disagree with superstitions, we can all agree that the Saints have improved their season as a team effort. Continue to cheer on your Saints baseball team at the Brent Gold Field as their season comes to a close.