ARLINGTON — If anyone has the title “hitter” on Arlington’s baseball team, it’s junior catcher and pitcher Tristan Sheward.

His breakout game for the season was March 21 against Snohomish. Even though the Eagles lost 8-6, Sheward was two-for-three at the plate, hitting two doubles for four RBI.

As a result, he is the Arlington Times-Marysville Globe Athlete of the Week.

“He’s one of our best hitters,” coach Scott Striegel said. “It was a delight seeing it and not a surprise by any means.”

“I practiced squeezing up on the bat and hitting through the ball,” Sheward said.

Sheward has only gotten better in different aspects of his game, such as hitting the ball to different parts of the field.

As a result, “he can’t be pitched to in one specific way,” Striegel said.

He also worked hard in conditioning during the offseason. He strengthened his legs to run bases. “His foot speed has really improved,” Striegel said.

Sheward had the highest hit percentage last season as a sophomore with a .472 average. He was the designated hitter for the team.

This year he’s the catcher, a position that he is coming into his own.

“We all have to get better. I’m not perfect,” Sheward said. “As a catcher, [I need to] work on throwing guys out and blocking.”

Blocking is a skill Sheward has been improving.

“Tristan’s got a strong arm, but if nobody blocks, everyone is going to move up,” Striegel said.

More than a hitter and a catcher, he sees himself becoming a leader as well, helping other catchers in drills.

“I like being catcher because you can be in charge of the players and seeing the whole field,” he said.

Squatted behind the batter as a catcher also reaps benefits into batting. It helps Sheward know the umpire’s strike zone, he said.

Sheward was introduced to baseball in the typical fashion of any youngster.

He played Little League, but was shown many other sports by his dad, who wanted him to try everything from golf to football.

After all that, “He said, ‘Now, you decide,'” Sheward said.

Sheward picked baseball.

“I like the situation it puts us in,” Sheward said. Like, “Bottom of the seventh with bases loaded — just clutch performances.”

He wants to continue baseball in college but also aspires to be a firefighter. He wants to play ball for a community college first and then transfer to a four-year school.

To him, firefighting is a lot like baseball, which is “being in a situation to do clutch performances.”

“I definitely don’t want a desk job,” he added.