Tomorrow the Adrian College Baseball Team plays its last two conference/regular season games with a home doubleheader against Hope College. We just completed our four game series against Kalamazoo College by winning the last three games following an opening game loss. Though our sixteen game winning streak ended on Friday, it was good for the team to be battle tested again. I'm certain that tomorrow's games against Hope will also provide us with great competition that will help in preparation for next week's NCAA Regional Tournament.
During our winning streak, I didn't change anything about our practices for the pitchers. Perhaps it was superstition (like shaving, or not shaving on game day!). Today, though, I felt like I needed to make a couple changes to our practice. We did our 'flat ground' work in the bullpens from the slope of the mound. We really threw short bullpens today rather than flat ground. I thought the location of some of our pitches took a step backwards last week, which caused us to fall behind more batters and put us in hitter's counts rather than pitcher's counts.
The other change was that we added a new conditioning drill for our pitchers. It was a drill that Eric and I talked about (and Eric diagrammed) Friday night at home, with pitchers starting on the mound and sprinting to ten different locations, and sprinting back to the mound from each location. The locations were various spots around the infield that pitchers may have to go to during a play, while either backing up bases or covering bases. The drill took each pair of pitchers just a bit over three minutes. It was different than our normal conditioning for the day before a doubleheader, but sometimes different is good, and it is a drill we will use again in the future.
The weekend series against Kalamazoo was highlighted by Senior Day at home on Saturday. This year's senior class has accumulated more wins than any class in the history of Adrian College baseball, and they have a lot to be proud of. Not only have they set a new standard of excellence, but the class is filled with guys who have exhibited a great amount of positive leadership to go along with their success. It has been a privilege for me to be able to work with all ten of the seniors, and our work is not yet complete!!
Hopefully, our underclassmen will take a page from the 2011 Senior Class's book, by continuing to lead their teammates with unselfishness and a dedication to improving every day. The work ethic and positive attitudes of these seniors will provide each of them with a solid foundation for the rest of their lives!!
During our winning streak, I didn't change anything about our practices for the pitchers. Perhaps it was superstition (like shaving, or not shaving on game day!). Today, though, I felt like I needed to make a couple changes to our practice. We did our 'flat ground' work in the bullpens from the slope of the mound. We really threw short bullpens today rather than flat ground. I thought the location of some of our pitches took a step backwards last week, which caused us to fall behind more batters and put us in hitter's counts rather than pitcher's counts.
The other change was that we added a new conditioning drill for our pitchers. It was a drill that Eric and I talked about (and Eric diagrammed) Friday night at home, with pitchers starting on the mound and sprinting to ten different locations, and sprinting back to the mound from each location. The locations were various spots around the infield that pitchers may have to go to during a play, while either backing up bases or covering bases. The drill took each pair of pitchers just a bit over three minutes. It was different than our normal conditioning for the day before a doubleheader, but sometimes different is good, and it is a drill we will use again in the future.
The weekend series against Kalamazoo was highlighted by Senior Day at home on Saturday. This year's senior class has accumulated more wins than any class in the history of Adrian College baseball, and they have a lot to be proud of. Not only have they set a new standard of excellence, but the class is filled with guys who have exhibited a great amount of positive leadership to go along with their success. It has been a privilege for me to be able to work with all ten of the seniors, and our work is not yet complete!!
Hopefully, our underclassmen will take a page from the 2011 Senior Class's book, by continuing to lead their teammates with unselfishness and a dedication to improving every day. The work ethic and positive attitudes of these seniors will provide each of them with a solid foundation for the rest of their lives!!
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