As we complete our last week of indoor practices before heading south to play baseball, I've got to admit the gratitude I have for being able to participate in this great sport daily with other baseball lovers. The bus leaves in two days, so there is excitement for the beginning of a brand new season, and this is something that I certainly hope never to take for granted.
I spent four years as a college student-athlete preparing for southern spring trips, and now two-and-a-half decades of doing so as a coach. I sometimes refer to our pitching practices as being something like the movie 'Ground Hog Day', but in reality they are anything but monotonous. Our pitchers are just trying to practice doing what they will do in games, and the more they can succeed in doing so at practice, the easier it will be to accomplish on the mound on game days. In saying that, yesterday's live pitching sessions with hitters in the cages was outstanding. The pitchers are throwing better than they did a few weeks ago, and that is one of the goals, of course.
Hopefully our pitching staff won't take anything for granted. I should probably remind them a little more often that it is a privilege to be able to play college baseball and to work toward team goals with each other. Heck, I still have to remind myself the same thing.
One thing I hope this year's pitchers don't forget is that they are charged with trying to continue to build the tradition of great pitching that has taken place at Adrian College for quite some time now. Before I arrived on the west side of town, there were outstanding pitchers named Keith Bozyk and Bobby Wrozek, among many others, whom I was privileged to see play from the other dugout. I was blessed to begin my time at Adrian with great competitors like Jeff Nokovich and Craig Reynolds, and to continue working with great pitchers like Bobby Rickstad, Alex Webster, Josh Lancaster, Nick Vandike, Ryan Domschot, Dave Partyka, and Jason Fryman, all of whom made their marks on Adrian College and MIAA baseball. There are many others who may not have been in the headlines as often as those mentioned, but who toiled just as diligently and got many huge outs with their teammates in hundreds of great baseball games.
This year's pitching staff has a chance to be as good as any of the ones we have had here at Adrian. In my opinion, we have more quality pitchers than we ever had, and part of my job is to try to get enough of them in competitive situations so that they are well prepared for the MIAA and Regional Tournaments in May. Some of that preparation includes having them understand what the guys before them have done and hoping that they have a sense of pride in the task of trying to continue building the great tradition.
The bigger picture, of course, has to do with competing for all of their teammates, not just their fellow pitchers. Each guy wearing the uniform should have pride in continuing the tradition that has grown in the last decade and led to lofty expectations for the entire program. Our pitchers have been fortunate to have several fantastic athletes playing defense behind them and putting runs on the scoreboard to make it easier to stand on that dirt hill in the middle of the infield, and this year is no exception.
As we begin, I am again reminded of how lucky I am to be able to share my passion for a kid's game with others who love getting dirty with grass stains and reddish colored dirt. I don't ever really have to grow up.
May God Bless not only our players, but all of my friends in the baseball coaching community and their families and athletes as well. Go Bulldogs! Go Saints! Go Chargers! Go Battlers!
I spent four years as a college student-athlete preparing for southern spring trips, and now two-and-a-half decades of doing so as a coach. I sometimes refer to our pitching practices as being something like the movie 'Ground Hog Day', but in reality they are anything but monotonous. Our pitchers are just trying to practice doing what they will do in games, and the more they can succeed in doing so at practice, the easier it will be to accomplish on the mound on game days. In saying that, yesterday's live pitching sessions with hitters in the cages was outstanding. The pitchers are throwing better than they did a few weeks ago, and that is one of the goals, of course.
Hopefully our pitching staff won't take anything for granted. I should probably remind them a little more often that it is a privilege to be able to play college baseball and to work toward team goals with each other. Heck, I still have to remind myself the same thing.
One thing I hope this year's pitchers don't forget is that they are charged with trying to continue to build the tradition of great pitching that has taken place at Adrian College for quite some time now. Before I arrived on the west side of town, there were outstanding pitchers named Keith Bozyk and Bobby Wrozek, among many others, whom I was privileged to see play from the other dugout. I was blessed to begin my time at Adrian with great competitors like Jeff Nokovich and Craig Reynolds, and to continue working with great pitchers like Bobby Rickstad, Alex Webster, Josh Lancaster, Nick Vandike, Ryan Domschot, Dave Partyka, and Jason Fryman, all of whom made their marks on Adrian College and MIAA baseball. There are many others who may not have been in the headlines as often as those mentioned, but who toiled just as diligently and got many huge outs with their teammates in hundreds of great baseball games.
This year's pitching staff has a chance to be as good as any of the ones we have had here at Adrian. In my opinion, we have more quality pitchers than we ever had, and part of my job is to try to get enough of them in competitive situations so that they are well prepared for the MIAA and Regional Tournaments in May. Some of that preparation includes having them understand what the guys before them have done and hoping that they have a sense of pride in the task of trying to continue building the great tradition.
The bigger picture, of course, has to do with competing for all of their teammates, not just their fellow pitchers. Each guy wearing the uniform should have pride in continuing the tradition that has grown in the last decade and led to lofty expectations for the entire program. Our pitchers have been fortunate to have several fantastic athletes playing defense behind them and putting runs on the scoreboard to make it easier to stand on that dirt hill in the middle of the infield, and this year is no exception.
As we begin, I am again reminded of how lucky I am to be able to share my passion for a kid's game with others who love getting dirty with grass stains and reddish colored dirt. I don't ever really have to grow up.
May God Bless not only our players, but all of my friends in the baseball coaching community and their families and athletes as well. Go Bulldogs! Go Saints! Go Chargers! Go Battlers!
