DISTRICT
ATHLETICS
Welcome to the Viola High School Baseball page
2018-19 State 1A Champions
Welcome to the Viola High School Baseball page. We trust that you will find our page useful in your search for information about our high school baseball program. Please feel free to browse all of our pages using the navigation menu for the latest information concerning general school athletics information, schedules, and team information.
Greetings from Clayton Gardner, Head Coach
Baseball is America’s game and has been for generations. Viola High School has also had a very strong baseball tradition throughout the generations of this great game as well. I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to follow and be a part of the program at Viola for the past seventeen years, six as a coach. In those seventeen years the Viola Longhorn baseball program has accumulated thirteen Conference championships, thirteen District championships, ten Regional Championships, and has played in six final fours and been in the state finals three times, winning two state championships. We are currently in the 2A North high school baseball conference. We compete in class 1A Arkansas state playoff system, which is highly competitive. The Viola Longhorn baseball program has produced one player drafted into professional baseball and has been blessed enough to have multiple players succeed at the collegiate level. We are proud of our program here at Viola, Arkansas and would be honored to have you become part of our family.
“Respect Everybody, FEAR NOBODY”
"Hold the Rope"
Philosophy of the Viola Baseball Program
Student participation in any sport is a privilege which carries many responsibilities. Extra-curricular activities are a privilege and not a right. The student athlete represents the community, school district, team, family, and themselves. Interscholastic athletics supplements the curriculum and becomes a vital part of a student’s total educational experience. These experiences contribute to the development of learning skills and emotional patterns that enable the student to maximize their education.
Winning is not the ultimate goal. Winning is emphasized as being a positive result of hard work, dedication and desire. By implementing hard work, dedication, and desire into our program, winning will take care of itself. The overall objective of the baseball program is to continue to maintain and build the tradition of what being a Viola Longhorn is as well as to teach each student athlete lifetime skills that will enhance his overall quality of life.
"G.R.I.N.D"
“It’s not about the name on the BACK of the jersey; it’s about the name on the FRONT of the jersey”
What does being a member of the Viola Longhorn Baseball Program mean?
Being a Longhorn is Special. Not everyone has the opportunities, the tradition, that a Longhorn does. Being a Viola Longhorn is being Different, being unique. As a Longhorn we are going to do things the right way, Better than those who are my competitors. Being a Viola Longhorn is Hard Work, even when we don’t always want to, even when things aren’t going my way, I still work hard giving all that I can give, my Best Effort, because I have pride in myself. Being a Viola Longhorn is being an important part of something Bigger Than Myself. I am a part of a special Team, where Together Everyone Achieves More. Where everyone of us, those before us, and those that will come after us, come together to make us what we are, and that is Winners. Being a Viola Longhorn means PRIDE. Caring about what we do and how we do it. We work hard and we are dedicated, we do things right. We have good effort and as a result we have Confidence in ourselves and our teammates because of the way we prepare ourselves to succeed. Being a Viola Longhorn is having Character. We treat ourselves and others with Respect and we have Class. Character is defined by how we act when no one is watching. Viola Longhorns build character by what we say, what we do, and most importantly how we act. As Viola Longhorns we are Dedicated and we are Loyal. We are the examples, people look at us and say, wow, lets do it like the Longhorns do it. We are Committed to being a Longhorn. We bleed Orange and Black. Being a Viola Longhorn is being a member of a Family, we all have each others back and we support and help each other no matter what, and we are proud to do it. Being a Viola Longhorn means we are a Tradition, a Dynasty, we have high expectations of ourselves, of our teammates, and we work hard to set goals and achieve them. We are not a trend, we are a tradition. “Tradition Never Graduates”. We carry the tradition, pass the torch, and NEVER let go of the rope. BE A LONGHORN TODAY AND EVERYDAY
“If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today” -- Mike Krzyzewski
In the past 17 years the Viola Longhorns Baseball Program has accomplished:
An overall record of 219-73
14 Conference Championships
14 District Championships
11 Regional Championships
6 Final Fours
4 State Championship Appearances
3 State Championships
“People say, Good things come to those who WAIT, we say good things come to those who WORK”